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ife) 

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MISSION 

NORTH  AMERICAN  PEOPLE, 


GEOGRAPHICAL,  SOCLiL,  AND  POLITICAL. 

\  ILLUSTRATED   BY   SIX   CHARTS 


DELINEATING  THE  PHYSICAL  ARCHITECTURE  AND  THERMAL  LAWS 
OF  ALL  THE  CONTINENTS. 


BY 

WILLIAM    GILPIN, 

LATE   GOVERNOR   OF    COLORADO. 


p  11 1  L  A  n  E  L  1'  n  I A : 
J.  B.   LIPPIXCOTT    &    CO. 

18  73. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1873,  by 
AV  I  L  L  I  A  il     GILPIN, 
:  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


INTRODUCTION. 


This  volume  is  the  reproduction  of  its  predecessor,  which  appeared 
in  1860.  This  short  interval,  although  checkered  by  war,  is  illuminated 
by  stupendous  achievements  in  the  direction  whither  the  energies  of  the 
people  were  invited. 

The  vivacity  with  which  lahor^  intelligence,  and  moderation,  in  concert 
and  alliance,  march  and  expand  in  force  and  volume,  is  amazing  and 
glorious.  Nothing  in  sight  predicts  any  serious  check  to  this  tidal  flood, 
on  which  is  borne  every  department  and  detail  of  Progress. 

The  aim  here  is  to  grasp  facts  as  they  are ;  to  reject  delusions  which 
have  grown  senile.  No  special  chapter  is  here  assigned  to  the  Western 
Cordillera  (the  Sierra  Nevada),  because  its  general  profile,  its  thermal 
features,  and  its  continuity  are  everywhere  referred  to  and  described. 

Much  that  has  been  proposed  and  asked  from  the  people  in  the  former 
volume  is  now  fully  completed  and  has  gone  into  history.  Everything 
else  is  coming  with  assured  certainty  and  celerity. 

In  the  former  pi'eface  I  have  given  expression  fully  to  my  faith  and 
hopes.  These  I  retain  and  repeat  with  fortified  confidence  and  con- 
viction. 

Denver,  June  1, 1873. 


THE 


CENTRAL  GOLD   REGION. 

THE 

GRAIN,  PASTORAL,  AND  GOLD  REGIONS 

OP 

]^OETH    AMEEIOA. 

WITH 

SOJIE  NEW  VIEWS  OF  ITS  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY,  AND  OBSERVATIONS 
ON  THE  PACIEIC  RAILROAD. 

BY 

WILLIAM     GILPIN, 

LATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  AKMY. 

:fie-st    iptj  s  Ij  I  s  h  e  d     i  isr     leeo. 


PREFACE. 


Everybody  i.s  acquainted  with  the  history  of  the  American  people. 
Their  commonwealth,  commenced  at  first  by  a  few  republican  families 
voluntarily  exiled  from  the  Old  World,  is  now,  at  the  end  of  two  and  a 
half  centuries,  a  republican  empire  of  establislied  continental  dimensions 
and  policy. 

Restricted  heretofore  in  its  development  to  so  much  of  our  continent 
as  belongs  to  the  Atlantic,  a  point  of  progress  is  reached,  whence  our 
energies,  overfloAving  towards  the  west,  expand  to  embrace  the  regions 
of  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  establish  direct  and  familiar  relations  with 
Asia. 

This  movement,  long  in  preparation,  now  engages  so  large  a  force  that 
its  advance  daily  acquires  volume  and  celerity.  Federal  legislation,  to 
progress  pa?'i  passu  with  the  people,  is  demanded  upon  a  basis  to  give 
effect  to  the  great  central  movement  resulting  from  their  energies.  A 
liberal  understanding  of  the  mission  of  our  people,  counsels  a  genial 
expansion  of  the  federal  system  to  the  grandest  dimensions  which  their 
energies  may  reach. 

I  have  condensed  into  a  small  volume,  the  memoranda  and  reflections 
suggested  by  a  residence  of  twenty  years  in  the  wilderness :  and  in  the 
midst  of  the  pioneer  people  who  occupy  the  foreground  of  progress,  and 
clear  open  the  track  of  empire. 

I  distinguish,  as  the  most  essential  present  ground  of  development,  the 
interval  which  separates  the  Mississippi  Basin  from  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
This  defines  itself  as  the  '■'■Mountain  System^  of  our  geography. 

The  magnitude  of  the  obstacles  which  it  opposes  to  the  forces  of  i)ro- 
gress  assembled  on  its  two  fronts,  sanctions  an  appeal  to  every  form  of 


g  PREFACE. 

\\kAY  discoraible  to  the  patriotic  heart.  This  needed  help  is,  iu  short,  the 
coiistruetiou  of  the  Contuieiitul Railroad. 

Two  auspicious  elements  iu  human  civilization,  by  their  rapid  growth 
in  power  and  importance,  fix  our  attention, — the  indefinite  multiplication 
of  gold  coin,  and  international  public  works. 

These  tiro  elements,  so  operating  as  to  nnitually  stimulate  and  sustain 
each  other,  promise  to  enthrone  industrial  oryanization  as  the  ruling 
principle  of  nations. 

America  leads  the  host  of  nations  as  they  ascend  to  this  new  order  of 
civilization. 

Her  intermediate  geographical  position  between  Asia  and  Europe  and 
their  populations,  invests  her  with  the  powers  and  duties  of  arbiter 
between  them.  Our  continent  is  at  once  a  barrier  which  separates  the 
other  two,  yet  fuses  and  harmonizes  their  intercourse  in  all  the  relations 
from  which  force  is  absent. 

Human  society  is,  then,  upon  the  brink  of  a  new  order  of  arrangement, 
inspired  by  the  universal  instincts  of  peace,  and  is  about  to  assume  the 
grandest  dimensions. 

Fascinated  by  this  vision,  which  I  have  seen  appear  and  assume  the 
solid  form  of  a  reality  in  less  than  half  a  generation,  I  discern  in  it 
a  new  power,  the  People  occupied  in  the  wilderness^  engaged  at  once  in 
extracting  from  its  recesses  the  omnipotent  element  of  gold  coin.,  and 
disbursing  it  iniinediately  for  the  industrial  conquest  of  the  world. 

William  Gilpin. 

I.NDEPESDE.NCE,  April  7,  1860. 


TA13LE    OF   CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE    MOUNTAIN    FORMATION    OF  NORTH  AMERICA THE  CORDILLERAS THE    PLA- 
TEAU  THE    NORTH    AMERICAN    ANDES. 

PAGE. 

Breadth — Length — Black  Hills — Corclillcra  of  the  Sierra  Madrc — Gold-producing 
Granite — Pares — Plateau  of  Table  Lands — Not  comprehended  by  the  American 
People — Basin  of  City  of  Mexico — Bolson  di  Mapimi — No  Drainage — Sierra 
Mimbres — Basin  of  the  Del  Norte — Basin  of  the  Colorado — Canon  of  the  Colo- 
rado— Basin  of  the  Salt  Lake — Basin  of  the  Columbia — Basin  of  Frazer's  River 
— Delicious  Climate  of  the  Plateau — Its  Fertility — Cordillera  of  the  Andes — 
Pacific  Maritime  Front 15 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE    CORDILLERA    OF    THE    SIERRA    MADRE THE    EASTERN    CORDILLERA. 

Mountain  System  of  the  Globe — The  Andes — Their  length,  altitude,  and  auriferous 
wealth — Chain  of  the  Mother  Mountain- — Its  Rivers — -Canons — Mesas — Butes — 
Llanos — Bayous  or  Pares — Elevation — Breadth — Wind  River  Mountain — South 
Pass — The  Alps  and  their  pass — Lava  Plain  of  Snake  River — Bowl  of  the  Yel- 
lowstone— Plain  of  the  South  Pass — Sweetwater  River — Table  Mountain^Pla- 
cers  of  gold  and  precious  stones — Northern  Pare  or  Bull-pen — Favorite  winter 
home  of  trappers — Streams,  meadows,  flowers,  groves,  etc. — Middle  Pare — 
Mountain  spurs,  rocky  streams,  cloudy  atmosphere,  snow-clad  summits — Long's 
Peak — Southern  Pare — Pike's  Peak — Mountain  barrier — No  transit — Bayou 
San  Luis — Sublime  scenery,  luxuriant  fertility,  agricultural  seasons — Valley 
of  Kashmere — Secondary  mesas,  or  "Llanos" — Level  surface,  poor  soil,  rainless 
atmosphere — Per()lexity  of  public  mind — Llano  Estacado  and  Llano  of  the  Bal- 
sifoeta — A  continual  terrace — Kansas  Basin 24 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE    PLATEAU    OF    NORTH    AMERICA. 

Its  area  and  characteristics — The  column  of  central  progress — Plateaux  of  the  Old 
World — Plateau  of  American  Table  Lands  not  understood — Its  basins — Climat.? 
uniformly  vernal — Fertility  of  soil — Grasses  make  natural  hay — Immense 
herds  of  cattle — Auriferous  granite  and  gold  placers — Irrigation — Prepared 
for  an  immediate    dense  population — Its   physical  characteristics — Geological 

formation — Jlineralogieal  resVjurccs — Zone  of  civilization — Line  of  progress ?j\ 

9 


10  TABLE    OF   COyTEyTS. 

CITArTEPv    TV. 

THE    SIERRA    SAX    JUAX. 

PAGE. 

The  gold  anil  silver  production  of  the  world — Auriferous  or  gold-bearing  forma- 
tion— Ciik-aroous  foruiution — Iron,  copper,  lead — Focal  culminations  of  the 
.Sierra  Madre — Pike's  Peak — The  Sierra  Mimbres — Mining  in  the  Andes — 
Stupendous  effects  of  the  internal  volcanic  ])owers  of  the  globe — Abundance  of 
I  he  precious  metals — Canon  of  the  Colorado — Gorgeous  variety  of  scenery — 
Philosophy  of  metalliferous  deposits — "  Great  North  American  Desert"  does 
not  exist — Humboldt's  views — The  Great  Plateau  the  seat  of  empire  of  the 
ancient  Jlc.xicans — Remarkable  focal  culmination  of  the  Sierra  Mimbres  in  the 
Sierra  San  Juan — The  column  of  jiioneers  upon  its  threshold 4-1 

CHAPTER    V. 

THE    SOCTU    PASS    OF    AMERICA. 

lloute  from  Paris  to  Pekin — Distance  and  time  reduced — The  Plateau  and  two  Cor- 
dilleras the  only  impediments — Basin  of  the  iMcdilerranean  and  Basin  of  the 
Mississipj)i — The  former  salt  water — The  latter  rich,  calcareous,  and  arable 
soil — The  former  supported  a  population  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-one  millions — 
The  latter  caj)able  of  twelve  hundred  millions — Both  the  seats  of  empire  in  their 
respective  continents — Both  traversed  by  the  zodiac  of  civilization — The  South 
Pass — Its  shape,  size,  and  surface — Distance  from  Astoria  and  St.  Louis — The 
only  pass  through  the  Mountain  Formation  hence  to  Tehuantepee — The  great 
trail  of  the  buffalo  passes  through  it — Uninterrupted  ])assage  by  the  bed  of  great 
rivers  both  to  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific — Uniformity  of  climate  from  sea  to  sea 
— The  great  Continental  line  of  empire  here — The  Pillars  of  Washington 54 

CHAPTER    VI. 

THE    GREAT    KASIX    OF    THE    MISSISSIIM'I. 

Its  great  river — Its  surface  a  rich  and  deep  sediment — Its  climate — Line  of  timber 
— Line  of  grasses — Capacity  for  ])opulation — Geographical  centre  of  the  Basin 
and  North  American  Continent  at  same  point — Between  and  equidistant 
from  the  259.000,000  population  of  Europe  and  the  6.00,000,000  population  of 
Asia  and  Polynesia — Surface  of  Europe  descends  outwards  from  its  centre — 
Also  of  Asia — Surface  of  North  America  like  a  bowl,  gathering  and  central- 
izing whatever  enters  within  its  rim — The  Basin  of  the  Mississijipi  the  amphi- 
theatre of  the  world C4 

CJIAl'TKK     \"  1  I. 

I'ASTORAI,    AMERICA. 

tirint  I'liiinn  of  America  noi  deserts — The  Pastoral  Garden  of  the  world — Its 
Furface  a    gentle   slojic  to    the  east— Abounds   in    rivers— Covered   with  thick 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS.  11 

PAGE. 

nutritious  grasses  and  swarming  with  animal  life — Soil  not  sandy,  but  a  fine 
calcareous  mould — Convenient  to  navigation — Climate  dry,  and  temperature 
even — Herbage  perennial,  edible,  and  nutritious  throughout  the  year,  and  cured 
into  natural  hay  upon  the  ground — Siqiports  one  hundred  millions  of  wild  cattle 
— No  fires  as  in  prairies — Turkeys,  chickens,  water-fowl,  fish,  and  game  in  great 
variety,  abundant — Ample  proportion  of  arable  land  for  farms,  fuel,  building 
materials,  etc. — Climate  favorable  to  health  and  longevity — Animal  food  three- 
fifths  of  that  of  the  human  family — How  produced  spontaneously — Very  little 
labor  necessary  for  support — Pastoral  agriculture  on  a  large  scale  compara- 
tively a  new  order  of  industry  to  our  people — Destined  to  be  of  immense  im- 
portance       71 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE    SYSTEM    OF    THE    PARCS. 

The  Definition  of  Pare — Their  Beauty  and  Grandeur — The  Pares  of  Colorado — 
San  Luis  Pare — Ease  of  Entrance  and  Departure — Mountains — Rivers — Extent 
— Climate — Valley  of  the  City  of  Mexico — Pasturage  of  San  Luis  Pare — Alpine 
Vegetation — The  Precious  Metals — Normal  Structure  of  the  Cordillera — Of  the 
Sierra  Mimbres — Craters  of  Extinct  Volcanoes — Pedrigals — Cerritos — Walls  of 
Lava — Productions  of  the  Pares — Medicinal  AVaters — Hot  Springs — Irrigation 
— Accessibility — Health — Mexican  Pojjulation 77 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THERMAL    AMERICA. 

Magnitude  of  the  New  Powers  and  Fresh  Forces — Thermal  Science — Belt  of  Pro- 
duction— Aqueous  Atmosphere — Aerial  Atmosphere — Ethereal  Atmosphere — 
Maritime  Climate — Continental  Climate — Region  of  the  Piedmont — Influence 
of  Vapors — Unfavorable  Influence  of  Thermal  Laws  in  Europe — The  Gold 
Fever — The  Land  Question — Government  Credits — The  Financial  Problem — 
Mistaken  Legislation — Pastoral  Agriculture — Industrial  Organization — The  Cos- 
mopolitan Railway 91 


CHAPTER    X. 

THE   NORTH   AMERICAN    MISSION. 

The  Pioneer  Army — The  Continental  Mission — The  Southern  Andes — The  North- 
ern Andes — Eastern  and  Western  Cordilleras — Profile  of  the  Andes — Sim- 
plicity of  Structure — Longitudinal  Position — The  Calcareous  Plain — Plateau — 
System  of  the  Pares — Enumeration — San  Luis  Pare — Alps  of  Europe — Convex 
Surface  of  Europe — Concave  Surface  of  North  America — Climate  of  Colorado — 
Isothermal  Belt — Climate  and  Civilization 


12  TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 

CH  APT  Ell    XL 

TUE    NORTU    AMERICAN    MISSION-r-CONTINUED. 

FAQS. 
The  Oriental  Sloj'eof  Asia — China — Its  Imperfect  Isotheniuil  Zoue — The  Isother- 
mal Zone  of  ^.'orth  America — Longitudinal  Mountains — Populations  of  Asia 
and  Europe — America  Intermediate — Wa^'-Travcl  of  the  Human  llace — Geo- 
graphical Progress — Social  Progress — Gold  Discoveries — City  of  Denver — March 
of  the  Pioneers — Overland  Conquests — System  of  Natural  Forces — Pastoral 
Agriculture 107 

CHAPTEll    XII. 

TUB    NORTH    AMERICAN    MISSION — CONTINUED. 

Geological  Formation  of  the  American  Andes — Atmospheres — Maritime  Climate — 
Continental  Climate — Richness  of  Atmospheric  Color — Vernal  Temperature — 
Denver  Cosmopolitan — Transportation  by  Kaihvays — Tidal  March  of  Popula- 
>  tion — London  and  the  Oriental  Commerce — Prospective  Oriental  Commerce  of 
North  America — Transacted  and  Untransacted  Mission  of  the  North  American 
People — Conclusion 117 


APPENDIX. 


I. 

MEXICAN     WAR. 

Remarks  of  Major  William  Gilpin,  at  the  Barbecue  given  the  Cole  Infantry,  at 
Jefferson  City,  Thursday,  August  10,1847 125 

II. 

SrEECll    OF    COLONEI,    WILLIAM    CILI'IN    ON    THE    SUBJECT    OF    THE    PACIFIC 

RAILWAY, 

Firit  KpokcD  at  the  Camp  of  Five  Thounund  California  EmigrantR  at  Waheruaa 
(now  the  Ciiy  of  Lb«  renec),  KunKac.  l{ej)cated  at  Independence,  Missouri,  at  a 
Mafi*  Meeting  of  the  Citizens  of  Jackcon  County,  held  November  5,  1849 136 


TABLE    OF   CONTENTS.  13 


III. 

PROCEEDINGS    OF    A    MASS    MEETING    OF    THE    CITIZENS    OF    JACKSON    COUNTY, 

FAOE. 

At  Independence,  on  the  5th  of  November,  1849,  to  rei^pond  to  the  Action  of 
the  Great  National  Railroad  Convention,  held  in  St.  Louis  on  the  15th  day 
of  October,  1849 165 


IV. 

PIKE'S    PEAK    AND    TQE    SIERRA    SAN    JUAN. 


t't:.'c 


Extracts  from  an  Address  by  Colonel  William  Gilpin,  delivered  at  Kansas  City, 
November  15,  1858;  on  the  (jold  Production  of  America  and  the  Sierra  San 
Juan 168 


Y. 

GEOGRAPHICAL    MEMORANDA    ON    THE    PACIFIC    RAILROAD. 

Reproduced  from  the  Pamphlet  of  1856 178 

VI. 

THE    HEMP-GROWING    REGION. 

Reproduced  from  the  Pamphlet  of  1856 202 

YII. 

AN   ORATION. 

Spoken  by  Honorable  William  Gilpin,  to  the  Guests  of  the  Fenian  Brotherhood, 
at  Denver,  Colorado,  July  4,  1868 209 


LIST     OF    MAPS. 


I. 

MAP    OF    KORTH    AMERICA. 

Delineating  the  "Mountain  System"  and  its  details,  The  "Great  Calcareous  Plain" 
a*  a  unit,  and  the  continuous  encircling  "  Maritime  Selvage." 

II. 

MAP    OF    NORTH    AMERICA. 

In  which  are  delineated  the  "Mountain  System"  as  a  unit,  The  "Great  Calcareous 
Plain"  and  its  detaih,  and  the  continuous  encircling  "  Maritime  Selvage." 

III. 

THERMAL  MAP  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 

Delineating  the  Isothermal  Zodiac,  the  Isothermal  Axis  of  Intensity,  and  its  ex- 
pansions up  and  down  the  "  Plateau." 

IV. 

MAP    ILLUSTRATING    THE    SYSTEM    OF    THE    PARCS 

And  the  domestic  relations  of  the  "  Great  Plains,"  the  "  North  American  Andes," 
and  the  Pacific  "  Maritime  Front." 

V. 

MAP    OF    THE    WORLD. 

Delineating  the  Contrasted  Lonijitudiiml  and  Latitudinal  Forms  of  the  Continents, 
the  Isothermal  Zodiac  and  Axis  of  Intensity,  round  the  AVorld,  and  the  Line  of  the 
Cosmopolitan  Railway  and  its  Longitudinal  Feeders. 

YI. 

MAP   OF    THE    SYSTEM    OF    THE    PARCS   OF   COLORADO. 

14 


THE    MISSION 


OF     THE 


NORTH  AMERICAN  PEOPLE. 


CHAPTER    I. 


THE   MOUNTAIN  FORMATION  OF  NORTH   AMERICA — THE  CORDILLERAS — 
THE   PLATEAU — THE    NORTH    AMERICAN   ANDES. 

I  HAVE  elsewhere  given  a  sketch  of  one  of  the  cardinal  subdivisions 
of  our  continent  and  country,  the  Great  Plains.  I  now  proceed  to 
sketch  what  is  beyond  them,  and  fills  the  space  out  to  the  Pacific  Sea. 
This  is  the  immense  Mountain  Formation  of  North  America. 

I  approach  the  attempt  to  classify  and  set  down  this  region  with  a 
degree  of  trepidation  which  I  find  it  difiicult  to  master.  During  the 
years  of  war  and  exploration  which  I  have  passed  among  them,  every 
hour  has  kept  alive  the  awe  inspired  by  the  immensity  of  the  space  they 
occupy,  the  grandeur  of  their  bulk  and  altitude,  and  the  sublime  order 
and  symmetry  which  pervade  them  as  a  system,  and  in  the  details. 
Moreover,  no  one,  not  even  Humboldt,  has  ever  attempted  to  reduce 
them  to  a  classic  system,  or  assented  to  what  I  have  done  in  the  hydro- 
graphic  map  of  1845.  These  indelibly-graved  impress'ons  perpetually 
recur  whenever  my  memory  reverts  to  that  time,  and  warn  me  to  speak 
of  countries  so  novel  to  a  public  little  curions  and  uninformed,  only  after 
condensing  their  portrait  with  the  maturest  meditation  and  with  nicely- 
guarded  caution. 

The  mountain  formation  of  North  America  is  that  distinct  subdivision 
of  its  area  which  occupies  the  whole  space  from  the  Great  Plains  to  the 
Pacific  Sea,  and  covers  two-sevenths  of  the  continent.     In  its  superficitd 

15 


16  MOUyTAlX  FORMATION    OF  XOJiTII  AMERICA,  ETC. 

conicnts,  bulk,  numher  and  varu'ty  of  the  nuiuntaiii  masses,  it  equals  she 
aggregated  mountains  of  all  the  other  continents.  It  has  peculiar  char- 
acteristics, which  render  it  more  interesting  than  them  all.  Travelling 
tran.sversely  across  from  east  to  west  along  the  thirty-ninth  degree,  the 
lireadth  is  IGOO  miles;  the  length,  continuous  from  Tehuantepec  to  the 
Arctic  S^'a,  is  4500  miles  ;  the  direction  is  regular  from  south-south-east 
to  nortli-north-west.  From  east  to  west  the  traveller  enters  and  crosses 
five  physical  divisions,  as  distinct  in  order  and  succession  as  are  the  pris- 
matic streaks  of  the  rainbow  to  the  eye.  These  are  :  1st.  The  Black 
Hills,  or  Eastern  Piedmont ;  2d.  The  Cordillera  of  tlie  Sierra  Madre 
(Rock}'  Mountain)  ;  Hd.  The  Plateau  of  the  Table  Lands,  with  its  moun- 
tain chains;  4th.  The  Cordillera  of  the  Snowy  Andes  (the  Sierra 
Nevada)  ;  5th.  The  Maritime  I'iedmont  of  the  Pacific  Shore.  These 
divisions  are  parallel  to  one  another  like  the  streaks  of  the  rainbow,  and, 
like  them,  run  throughout  from  end  to  end  of  the  mountain  Jormation,  in 
which  they  are  blended  together  in  one  embodied  mass. 

Beyond  the  longitudinal  centre  of  the  Great  Plains,  the  undulations  of  the 
surface  begin  to  swell  up,  until  they  become  elevated  into  secondary  moun- 
tains, with  timber,  and  crowned  with  rocky  escarpments.  These  are  the 
Black  Hills.  They  are'  the  outliers  of  the  Sierra  IMadre,  are  in  the 
Basin  of  the  Mississippi,  and,  masking  the  mountain  crest,  break  and 
graduate  its  descent.  They  are  800  miles  in  breadth,  are  perforated  by  all 
the  great  rivers,  and  are  washed  away  and  tortured  into  fragments  by 
their  channels.  They  have  rocks  of  porphyritic  granite  and  sandstone, 
but  are  Ibr  the  most  part  formed  of  the  sulphat  eof  lime,  as  gypsum  or 
plaster  of  Paris. 

Some  of  them  are  paved  with  petrifactions,  and  others,  being  composed 
of  light  mould,  form  the  suspended  matter  of  the  rivers,  which  goes 
down  to  make  the  alluvial  bottoms  and  delta  of  the  Mississippi  Basin. 
They  have  but  little  snow  or  rain,  a  scattered  growth  of  dwarfed  timber, 
and  a  picturesque  and  fantastic  scenery.  They  are  an  importnat  part 
of  the  pastoral  region,  are  clothed  in  perennial  grasses,  and  aliound  in 
aboriginal  cattle.  Perpetual  sunshine,  fertility,  perfect  health,  pure  and 
abundant  water,  ever-varying  scener}',  and  infinite  animal  life,  will,  in  time, 
attract  and  fix  here  the  densest  population. 

Over  the  Black  Hills  ri.-*es  the  CoitDiLLERA  OF  THE  Sierra  Madre. 
This  supreme  Cordillera  may  be  defined  as  the  backbone  of  the  world  ; 
it  is  the  "  di'vorfia  aqiiaruni"  of  the  American  continent.  From  the 
Knows  of  its  immense  crest  and  flanks  descend  tlie  rivers  that  irrigate 
either  face  of  the  continent  out  to  all  the  oceans.  From  it  also  branch 
off  all  the  other  mountain  chains.      Where  the  irriiiation  I'rom  the  snow^s 


MOUNTAIN  FORMATION   OF  NORTH   AMFIUCA,  ETC.  17 

is  suflScient,  immeuse  forests  exist ;  elsewhoro  tlie  luouiitaiiis  are  naked. 
The  core  or  basis  of  tlic  Sierra  Madre  is  red  porphyritic  j^rariite,  froin  the 
immense  naked  masses  of  which  comes  the  popuhir  sobri(jiiet  of  '■  llocky 
Mountains."  This  is  the  gold-producing  quartz.  The  Sierra  Madre  has 
precipitous  mural  flanks,  which  protrude  outward  as  promontories,  or 
recede  to  encase  the  courses  of  rivers  and  valleys.  It  has  peaks,  conical 
in  shape  and  culminating  by  a  sharp  apex. 

To  those  who  view  it  in  the  horizon  from  below,  this  is  its  general 
appearance ;  but  to  those  who  ascend  its  ragged  front  and  surmount  its 
highest  crest,  this  is  found  to  be  a  Mesa  or  indefinite  table  land  as  level  as 
a  water  surface.  This  Sierra  Madre  has  its  own  characteristics,  which  arc 
all  of  the  gi-andest  order.  I  am  unable  to  illustrate  it  by  comparison, 
because  it  stands  supreme  and  alone,  the  standard  to  which  all  other  moun- 
tain masses  must  be  submitted.  It  is  of  the  original  mass  of  the  globe, 
and  has  neither  lava,  nor  craters,  nor  active  volcanoes,  nor  traces  of  the 
igneous  force  within.  It  is  par  excellence  primeval.  Scooped  out  of  its 
main  mass  are  valleys  of  great  size  and  beauty,  which  have  received  from 
the  trappers  the  name  of  Pares.  These  occur  at  regular  intervals,  alter- 
nately upon  either  flank,  and  mark  the  sources  of  the  great  rivers. 

Those  which  I  have  seen  are  the  Plain  of  the  South  Pass,  surrounding 
the  sources  of  the  Rio  Verde  : — the  North  Pare,  upon  the  Northern  Platte 
or  Nebraska  Kiver : — the  Middle  Pare,  upon  the  Rio  Grande  of  the 
West : — the  South  Pare,  upon  the  Southern  Platte : — the  Pare  of  San 
Luis,  upon  the  Rio  del  Norte.  These  remarkable  valleys  are  all  secluded 
within  the  main  dorsal  mass  of  the  Cordillera,  and  are  of  great  size,  fer- 
tility, and  beauty.  They  resemble  those  reservoirs  of  the  Alpine  torrents 
of  Switzerland  (Greneva  and  Constance),  out  of  which  issiie  the  rivers 
Rhone  and  Rhine  :  and  the  valley  of  Kashmere,  through  which  the  Indus 
flows  ;  though  they  contain  no  lakes. 

They  are  the  paradise  of  the  aboriginal  herds,  with  which  they  swarm 
at  all  seasons,  and  are  the  favorite  retreats  of  the  Indians.  To  define  the 
exact  width  of  the  primary  Cordillera,  and  mark  the  line  where  it  fades 
into  the  Black  Hills  upon  the  east,  and  into  the  Plateau  of  the  Table 
Lands  upon  the  west,  is  not  easy;  but  it  varies  from  100  to  250  miles, 
according  as  it  expands  into  salient  promontories,  or  recedes  to  give 
passage  to  the  rivers. 

We  next  descend  on  to  the  third  division,  which  is  the  Plateau  OF 
THE  Table  Lands.  This  expands  onward  to  the  Cordillera  of  the  Snowy 
Andes.  I  speak  again  with  great  diffidence,  but  of  all  the  departments 
into  which  science  has  arranged  the  physical  geography  of  the  globe,  this 
appears  to  me  the  most  interesting,  the  most  crowded  with  various  and 


18  MOUXTAIX  FORMATION   OF  NORTH  AMERICA,  ETC. 

attractive  features,  and  the  must  certainly  destined  eventually  to  contain 
the  most  enlightened  and  powerful  empire  of  the  world. 

At  present  it  is  no  more  known  or  comprehended,  as  it  is,  by  the  Ameri- 
can people  than  was  America  itself  to  the  poet  Homer,  and  is  to  them  as 
muih  a  n)yth  as  the  continent  of  Atalanta.  Nevertheless,  it  is  of  such 
great  area  as  to  contain  within  itself  three  rivers  which  rank  with  the 
Granges  and  Danube  in  size,  and  five  great  ranges  of  primary  mountains. 
This  will  be  seen  exactly  defined  upon  the  hydrographic  map  of  1845,  as 
the  immense  longitudinal  region  encased  within  the  Cordilleras  and 
extending  from  Tehuantepec  to  the  Northern  Sea,  It  would  exhaust  a 
large  volume  to  recite  in  detail  the  interesting  features  of  this  region,  all 
worthy  to  be  known. 

The  Plateau  of  tiik  Table  Lands  is  a  succession  of  intramontane 
basins,  seven  in  number,  and  ranging  successively  from  south  to  north. 
The  solid  mass  of  the  Andes  debouches  out  of  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuan- 
tepec, and  forks  immediately  into  the  two  Cordilleras.  Advancing  along 
the  Western  Cordillera  into  the  state  of  Jalisco,  a  mountain  chain  issues 
from  its  inner  flank,  and,  traversing  the  Table  Lands,  plunges  into  the 
Sierra  Madre,  in  the  state  of  San  Luis  Potosi.  This  cuts  off  to  the 
south  the  "  Basin  of  the  City  of  Mexico^'  which  is  the^rs^,  the  smallest, 
and  the  most  southern  of  the  mountain  basins. 

Further  north,  a  second  mountain  chain  crosses  from  Durango  to 
Coahuila,  and  cuts  off  the  "  Basin  of  the  Bolson  di  Mapimiy  This  is 
the  second  mountain  basin.  The  Cordilleras,  which  flank  these  two  and 
fence  them  from  the  seas,  have  so  great  an  altitude  that  the  ocean  vapors 
never  surmount  their  crests,  nor  do  any  clouds  pass  outward  over  them. 
These  basins,  therefore,  have  no  outAvard  drainage,  nor  any  rivers  run- 
ning to  the  sea.  Stagnant  lakes  alternately  receive  the  drainage  from 
their  surrounding  mountains,  and  yield  it  to  them  again  by  evaporation. 
This  last  chain  is  known  as  the  "  Mountain  of  the  Rio  Florida  ;"  the 
former  as  the  "  Mountain  of  Queretaro." 

Pursuing  still  the  Western  Cordillera  through  the  state  of  Siiialoa,  a 
third  mountain  chain,  dividing  off,  traverses  the  Table  Lands  due  north, 
and  plunges  into  the  Sierra  3Iadre,  between  the  Pare  of  San  Luis  and  the 
Middle  Pare.  This  is  an  immense  and  remarkable  mountain,  is  1300 
miles  in  length,  and  divides  the  waters  of  the  Del  Norte  and~ Colorado. 
It  in  the  finunis  Sierra  Mimhres. 

The  area  thus  cut  off  between  it  and  the  mountain  of  the  Rio  Florida 
Is  drained  by  the  rivers  Del  Norte,  Pecos,  and  Conchos,  which,  uniting  at 
the  wcbtern  biUfe  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  perforate  it  by  a  cation,  and,  escap- 
ing iiit<i  tlu;  external  maritinR'  rctiiun.  form  the  Rio  Grande  of  Texas. 


MOUNTAIN   FORMATION   OF   NORTH  AMERICA,  ETC.  19 

This  is  the  only  water-course  wliich  perforates  the  Sierra  INfadre  between 
Cape  Horn  and  the  Arctic  Sea.  It  is  here  that  a  profound  and  distressing 
error  pervades  all  the  existing  charts  and  delineations  of  our  continental 
geography.  These,  omitting  the  great  Sierra  Madre  for  600  or  700  miles 
of  its  length,  and  assigning  its  name  to  the  Sierra  Mimbres,  locate  the 
Rio  del  Norte  and  its  vast  basin  with  the  system  of  Atlantic  rivers.  Yet 
the  Sierra  Mimbres  abounds  in  pedrigals  of  lava,  craters,  and  volcanic 
phenomena,  and  the  geological  altitude,  configuration,  and  a  thousand  pal- 
pable characteristic  features  of  the  basin  of  the  Del  Norte,  locate  them 
upon  the  Plateau  of  the  Table  Lands.  This  blunder  of  transposition  is 
more  foolish  than  to  construct  a  map  of  Europe  and  forget  the  Alps,  or  to 
draw  for  the  people  a  pine-tree  growing  erect  in  the  middie  of  the  ocean, 
whilst  dolphins  graze  upon  a  mountain  slope !  The  vast  basin  of  the 
Del  Norte  is  then  the  third  in  order  of  the  mountain  basins  of  the 
Plateau. 

The  Western  Cordillera  continues  to  traverse  Sonora,  and,  passing 
round  the  Gulf  of  California,  reappears  in  sight  of  the  ocean  in  the  State 
of  California.  Opposite  San  Bernardo  another  mountain  chain  branches 
from  its  eastern  flank,  traverses  the  Table  Lands  by  a  northern  course, 
dividing  the  waters  of  the  Colorado  and  Grreat  Salt  Lake,  and  plunges  into 
the  Sierra  Madre  between  the  sources  of  Gi-reen  River  and  Snake  River. 
This  is  thefoiirtli  great  mountain  chain  of  the  Table  Lands,  is  1000  miles 
in  length,  and  is  the  Sierra  Wasatch. 

Between  it  and  the  Sierra  Mimbres  is  included  the  immense  Mountain 
Basin  op  the  Colorado,  which  is  the  fourth  subdivision  of  the  area  of 
the  Table  Lands.  This  basin  has  an  immense  area,  great  altitude,  an 
infinite  perplexity  of  mountains,  and  is  redundant  in  striking  and  wonder- 
ful novelties.  The  Rio  Verde,  Rio  Grande  of  the  West,  and  Rio  San 
Juan,  collect  its  upper  waters,  and,  uniting  against  the  inner  flank  of  the 
Cordillera  of  the  Snowy  Andes,  gorge  it  diagonally  through  and  through, 
and  escape  into  the  Gulf  of  California.  This  sublime  gorge  is  557  miles 
in  length,  and  is  known  as  the  "  Canon  of  the  Colorado.^^  It  is  through- 
out a  narrow  mountain  chasm,  traversing,  without  interruption,  the  very 
bowels  of  the  Andes,  having  perpendicular  mural  sides,  often  many  thou- 
sand feet  in  altitude. 

Other  important  afl^iuents  of  the  Colorado  (the  Mohabe,  the  Little  Colo- 
rado, and  the  Gila)  force  their  way  into  it  by  an  infinite  labyrinth  of 
gorges,  similarly  scooped  through  the  bowels  of  the  mountain  mass. 
These  two  remarkable  basins,  then, — the  Del  Norte  and  Colorado, — lie 
against  the  Sierra  Mimbres,  as  a  backbone.  The  waters  of  the  first  gorge 
the  Eastern  Cordillera  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  ;  those  of  the  second,  the 


20  MOUXTAIN  FORMATION   OF  NORTH  AMERICA,  ETC. 

Western  Cordillera  to  the  (iulf  of  California  ;  but  no  gorge  unites  them 
through  the  Sierra  Mimbres,  which  is  unperforated. 

These  basins  are  both  longitudinal  in  shape  and  position  ;  they  overlap 
one  another,  and  thereby  multiply  the  number  and  complexity  of  moun- 
tain barriers.  Among  the  physical  phenomena  of  the  globe,  this  '■'■Canon 
of  the  Colorado"  is  an  isolated  fact,  unique  and  sublime  in  interest. 

These  two  basins  are,  par  excellence^  the  metalliferous  department  of 
the  world,  and  are  uifascd  throughout  with  mountains  of  the  precious 
stones,  and  precious  and  base  metals — of  lava,  obsidian,  and  marble — of 
salt,  coal,  and  with  rivers  of  thermal  and  medicinal  waters. 

Jjct  me  hasten  to  other  subdivisions  of  equal  interest.  Near  the  forty- 
second  degree  of  latitude,  the  Western  Cordillera  throws  off  the  Ji/th 
mountain  chain  of  the  Table  Lands.  This  has  a  serpentine  course,  mainly 
ea.st  and  west,  is  1200  miles  long,  and  forms  the  division  between  the  hasin 
of  the  Salt  Lake  and  the  basin  of  tlir  Colnnihia.  It  joins  with  the  Sierra 
Wasatch,  and  immediately  at  the  point  of  junction,  plunges  with  it  into 
the  Eastern  Cordillera. 

This  great  basin,  containing  in  one  of  its  depressions  the  Salt  Lake,  is 
the  counterpart,  on  our  continent,  of  the  Caspian  of  Asia.  It  is,  like  the 
first  and  second  basins,  encased  all  around  with  an  unperforated  mountain 
wall,  and  neither  sends  nor  receives  water  from  any  sea. 

Nearly  opposite  to  Puget's  Sound,  a  sixth  chain  of  mountains,  break- 
ing off"  from  the  eastern  flank  of  the  Western  Cordillei-a,  traverses  the 
Table  Lands  by  a  due  northern  course,  and  sinks  into  the  Eastern  Cor- 
dillera, closely  enveloping  the  sources  of  the  Columbia  River.  This  is 
called  the  Okennagan  Mountains,  and  divides  the  waters  of  the 
Columbia  from  those  of  Frazer's  River. 

The  Basin  op  the  Columbia  is  the  sixth  in  order  of  the  basins  of 
the  Table  Lands.  It  is  the  most  admirable  of  them  all.  A  splendid 
circular  configuration  and  two  primary  rivers.  Its  size,  position,  and  con- 
figuration, relatively  to  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
make  it  the  elite  of  them  all.  It  extends  all  across  the  Table  Lands  from 
rim  to  rim,  as  do  both  its  great  rivers — the  Snake  River  and  the  Colum- 
bia—which, uniting,  gorge  the  Western  Cordillera  at  the  Cascades,  pene- 
trating through  them  to  the  Pacific  in  40°  19'.  They  run  from  east  to 
west,  and  connect  exactly  by  convenient  and  single  pa.sses  across  the  East- 
ern Cordillera,  with  the  great  rivers  flowing  down  to  the  Atlantic.  It 
partakes  of  all  the  cardinal  cliara<-tcristics  of  the  other  l)asins,  having,  in 
addition,  mighty  forests,  navigation,  a  larger  share  of  arable  (|ualities,  and 
a  superior  economy  in  its  topographical  surface  and  position. 

Such  are   the  >-ix  piiniaiy  ))asins  and   niuuntain   cluiins  which    checker 


MOUNTAIN  FOmiATION   OF   NORTH   AMERICA,   ETC.  ^1 

and  arrange  themselves  into  the  Grand  Plateai;  uv  tiik  Tablk  Lands, 
as  I  have  seen  them  and  become  familiar  with  them.  There  is  a  stvoith, 
the  basin  of  Frazer's  River,  with  which  I  am  acquainted  only  from  the 
reports  of  others  who  have  reconnoitered  it.  It  has  the  .same  general 
features,  though  smaller,  longitudinal  in  direction,  and  nanow. 

We  may  now,  then,  return  to  the  third  elementary  division  of  tlie 
mountain  formation  of  North  America,  namely  :  TiiE  Plateau  of  the 
Table  Lands.  We  may  understand  its  variety  and  vastness,  yet  handle 
it  as  a  unit.  The  lowest  sedimentary  points,  where  the  waters  accunmlate 
into  the  lakes  of  Mexico,  Mapimi,  Gusman,  and  Salt  Lake,  have  an 
average  altitude  of  6000  feet  above  the  seas.  The  ivhole  Plateau  haa  then 
the  elevation  of  a  primari/  nynuitain.  It  is  everywhere  fertile,  being  pas- 
toral for  the  most  part,  but  arable  where  irrigation  is  adopted. 

Every  geological  formation  exists  on  a  Titanic  scale :  volcanoes,  colum- 
nar basalt,  and  pedrigals  of  crystallized  lava ;  porphyritic  granite  ami 
sandstone,  and  secondary  btisins  of  the  sulphate  and  carbonate  of  lime.  It 
is  universally  a  rainless  region,  and  nowhere  is  arable  agriculture  possible 
without  artificial  irrigation.  Pastoral  culture  is  the  prominent  feature, 
wherein  it  rivals  the  Great  Plains.  The  air  is  tonic  and  exhilarating — 
the  atmosphere  resplendent  with  perpetual  sunshine  by  day  and  with  stars 
by  night.  The  climate  is  intensely  dry,  and  the  temperature  variant  and 
delicious. 

Habitations  are  not  essential  in  this  salubrious  and  vernal  clime ;  the 
aborigines  dispense  with  them.  During  six  years  that  I  have  passed  upon 
the  Plateau,  I  have  rarely  slept  within  a  house  or  beneath  any  canopy  but 
the  sky,  infinitely  spangled  with  stars.  Upon  this  Plateau  has  existed, 
within  our  memory,  the  populous  and  civilized  empire  of  the  Aztecs,  and 
in  South  America  that  of  the  Incas.  Timber  grows  upon  the  rivers  and 
upon  the  irrigated  mountain  flanks.  To  arrange  the  arable  lands  for  irri- 
gation is  not  more  costly  than  our  system  of  fencing,  which  it  sui)ersedes. 
No  portion  of  the  globe  can  maintain  so  dense  a  population. 

But  the  fourth  subdivision  of  the  "  Mountain  Formation  of  North 
America '  is  the  Snowy  Cordillera  of  the  Andes.  Everybody  is 
familiar,  from  childhood,  with  the  South  American  Andes.  This  of  \turs 
is  the  same,  unchanged  in  any  characteristic,  except  an  increased  and 
superior  grandeur.  Let  us  restore  to  it  its  ancient  and  illustrious  name! 
Let  us  inquire  how  it  has  come  temporarily  to  be  lost. 

The  Andes  traverse  the  American  continent,  in  one  unbroken  and 
uniform  mass,  from  Cape  Horn  to  Behring's  Strait.  Towards  the  ocean, 
to  whose  indented  shore  they  are  parallel,  and  from  which  they  are  every- 
where visible,  they  present  a  precipitous  front  and  immense  altitude;  they 


•22  MOUNT  A IX  FORMATION   OF  NORTH  AMERICA,  ETC. 

everywhere  surmount  the  line  of  perpetual  snow.  Upon  this  front,  which 
receives  the  perpetual  winds  from  the  ocean  and  is  bathed  with  its  vapors, 
snows  and  forests  accumulate  as  upon  the  Alps.  But  on  their  summit  of 
perpetual  congelation,  these  vapors,  condensed  to  ice,  ai'e  as  solid,  as  per- 
petual, as  the  granite  rocks.  No  vapors  pass  over  to  the  inner  region, 
which  is  naked  of  snow,  timber,  or  irrigation.  Hence  has  come  this  dis- 
tinctive Spanish  sobriquet  of  this  sublime  sea-wall — Cordillera  Xt'irula  de 
los  Andes  (the  snowy  chain  of  the  Andes) — to  define  it  specifically  from 
the  naked  masses  within  !  Thus,  since  this  ancient  and  familiar  Andes 
has  come  to  be  domesticated  in  our  republican  empire,  within  the  States 
of  California  and  Oregon,  has  it  been  thoughtlessly  2)luudered  of  its 
name,  defined  only  by  an  expletive,  snoicy,  and  incontinently  ignored  of 
its  supreme,  coronated  rank  in  the  mountain  system  of  the  world. 

If,  then,  you  require  from  me  a  description  of  this  fourth  subdivision 
of  our  mountain  formation,  I  bid  you  to  peruse  again  the  fascinating  pages 
of  Prescott  and  his  predecessors ;  the  romantic  historians  of  Cortez, 
Alvarado,  and  Pizarro  ;  and,  above  all,  the  oracular  inspiration  with 
which  the  illustrious  Humboldt  has  analyzed  the  geographical  wonders 
of  this  Cordillera  of  the  Snowy  Andes,  and  tinted  them  with  divine 
eloquence  ! 

Finally,  I  am  bewildered  how  to  speak  of  X\\e  fifth  subdivision,  which 
Ls  the  Pacific  Maritijie  Front.  This  brings  us  out  to  meet  the  ocean, 
tu  blend  together  the  varieties  of  sea  and  land,  and  where,  among  the 
assembled  climates  and  countries  of  the  globe,  Cornucopia  permanently 
dwells  with  her  ever-redundant  and  overflowing  horn  of  ripening  beauty 
and  plenty. 

This  Pacific  ^Maritime  Front  is  the  counterpart  of  that  outside  of  the 
Alleghany  and  upon  the  Atlantic.  It  is  the  tide-water  region.  The 
Atlantic  Front  has  an  area  of  271,000  square  miles,  this  of  420,000  ;  it 
is  not  much  broader  from  the  mountains  to  the  sea,  but  has  a  greater  lon- 
gitude. In  eveiy  detail  of  climate,  vegetation,  soil,  and  physical  forma- 
timi,  there  is  between  these  two  seaboards  the  completest  contrast. 

On  the  Pacific  are  blended,  beneath  the  eye,  and  swept  in  at  one  sight, 
the  feublime,  castellated  masses  of  the  Andes — their  bases  are  set  in  the 
emerald  verdure  of  the  plain,  rising  gently  above  the  sea-level — their 
middle  flanks  are  clothed  with  the  arborescent  grandeur  of  pine  and  cedar 
forests.  Naked  above,  and  towering  into  the  u})per  air,  their  coliunnar 
form  of  structure  resembles  an  edifice  designed  to  enclose  the  whole  globe 
it.self;  but  from  this  foundation,  and  rearing  their  snow-covered  crests 
another  :nile  into  the  firmament,  shoot  up  volcanic  peaks  at  intervals  of 
one  hundred  miles,  encasing  the  throats  of  the  inner  world  of  fire,  and 


MOUNTAIN  FOIIMATION   OF   NORTH  AMERICA,  ETC.  23 

coruscated  iu  perpetual  snow,  beneath  curunets  of  volcanic  smoke  and 
flames. 

The  sublimest  of  the  oceans ;  majestic  rivers  more  worthy  to  be  deified 
than  the  Ganges  or  Egyptian  Nile ;  the  grandest  and  most  elevated  of 
earth's  mountains ;  superlative  forest  evergreen ;  an  emerald  verdure  and 
exuberant  fertility ;  a  mellow  and  delicious  atmosphere,  imbued  with 
purple  tints  reflected  from  the  ocean  and  the  mountains ;  a  soft  vernal 
temperature  the  year  round.  Whatsoever  can  be  combined  of  massive 
and  rugged  mountains,  picturesque  landscape,  and  a  verdant  face  to  nature 
shining  under  the  richest  suidight :  a  climate  soft  and  serene ;  whatsoever 
of  all  these,  blended  and  enjoyed  in  combination,  will  accomplish  to  give 
grace,  elevation,  and  refinement  to  the  social  world,  are  here  united  to  woo 
and  develop  the  genius  of  our  country  and  our  people. 

In  all  these  natural  favors  our  tcestern  seaboard  front  is  supremely  more 
gifted  than  the  classic  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Asian  Seas, 
for  fifty  centuries  the  favorite  theme  of  history,  poetry,  and  song.  The 
embellishments  which  old  society  and  the  accumulating  contributions  of  a 
hundred  successive  generations  add  to  nature,  are  not  yet  there ;  hut  these 
will  come,  and  to  us  who  fan  the  career  of  our  great  country  whilst  we 
live,  the  future,  which  posterity  will  possess  and  enjoy,  is  full  of  the  radi- 
ance of  true  glory. 

Such  is  a  homespun  and  laconic  detail  of  a  few  essential  facts  necessary 
to  comprehend  the  '■'■Mountain  Formation  of  North  America"  and  to 
know  where  and  what  it  is.  The  subject  is  above  the  reach  of  imagina- 
tion or  ornament,  and  of  a  higher  level.  Intelligent  research  and  candid 
judgment  must  supply  the  rest  and  fill  up  the  portrait. 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE  CORDILLERA    OF   THE    SIERRA  MADRE — THE  EASTERN  CORDILLERA. 

This  is  an  immense  department  of  our  country,  of  primary  significance 
and  interest.  Vaguely  denominated  the  "  Stony  or  Rocky  Mountains," 
occupying  an  inhospitable  waste  beyond  the  energies  of  social  adventure, 
mankind  has  heretofore  heard  the  name  with  indifference,  and  all  minute 
details  with  dogmatic  aversion.  To  establish  its  title  to  esteem  in  the 
popular  opinion  of  the  world,  the  complete  reverse  of  this,  is  my  object. 

Prominent  in  the  "  Mountain  System  of  the  Globe"  is  an  immense 
girdle  of  mountains,  granitic  in  formation,  crested  with  snow,  having  vol- 
canoes on  its  flanks,  and  auriferous  throughout.  This  commences  at  Cape 
Horn,  traverses  the  whole  length  of  America  to  Behring's  Strait,  tra- 
verses Asia  and  Europe  to  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  traverses  Africa  and 
appears  in  the  islands  of  IMadagascar,  Austi'alasia,  and  New  Zealand.  If 
the  single  strait  of  Hercules  were  closed,  and  Suez  opened,  this  continu- 
ous mountain  crest  would  exactly  contain  all  the  salt  and  fresh  waters  of 
the  Basin  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  in  a  closed  circle,  and  divide  them  from 
those  of  the  Basin  of  the  Atlantic. 

This  continuous  girdle  becomes,  in  some  localities,  very  much  condensed 
in  breadth  and  altitude,  as  at  the  Isthmus  of  Central  America,  and  in 
France.  Elsewhere  it  assumes  immense  expansion  in  area  and  altitude, 
spreading  out  and  elevating  itself  into  the  continental  plateau,  which  occu- 
pies the  whole  of  Central  Asia,  and  the  still  grander  "  Plateau  of  the 
Table  Lands"  of  our  North  America. 

The  "  Mountain  Formation  of  Korth  America''''  is,  then,  an  important 
section  of  this  immense  girdle,  which  bisects  all  the  continents. 

It  has  an  area,  a  massiveness  and  altitude,  a  position  and  climate,  a  fer- 
tility, a  variety  which  blends  all  the  peculiarities  of  all  other  sections :  a 
simplicity  of  configuration,  and  a  sublimity  of  profile  which  transcends  all 
the  rest. 

Thus,  in  the  "  Cordillera  Nevada  de  las  Andes'^  is  found  the  full  equiv- 
alent of  the  South  American  mountains,  volcanoes,  active  and  extinct, 
crowned  with  glaciers  and  of  immense  altitude,  battlements  of  columnar 
basalt,  pedrigals  of  lava,  subterranean  and  thermal  streams.  The  plateau 
24 


THE    CORDILLERA    OF    THE   SIERRA    MADRE.  25 

and  its  primary  cliains  outrival  in  area  and  interest  those  of  Soutli  America 
and  Asia  combined. 

Finally,  the  stern  and  stupendous  masses  of  the  Himalaya  find  them- 
selves surpassed  by  the  primeval  bulk,  the  pr()di<;ious  lenuth  and  brtjadth 
the  immense  mesas,  the  romantic  i)arcs,  the  far  protrudinji'  llanos,  and  the 
cloud-compelling  icy  peaks  of  the  Cordillera  of  the  Sierra  Madre. 

"  The  Chain  of  the  Mother  Mountain"  is  the  generic  name  which  piety 
awards  to  this  continuous  crest,  down  whose  flanks  descend  all  the  feeders 
of  the  oceans.  Let  me  name  them :  the  Athabasca,  the  Saskatchewan, 
the  supreme  Missouri  and  Mississippi,  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  Texan  rivers, 
the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte,  the  Frazer,  the  Columbia,  and  the  Colorado,  in 
the  Northern  continent.  In  the  Southern,  the  Magdalena,  the  Orinoco, 
the  Amazon,  the  La  Plata,  the  Patagonia  rivers,  and  those  of  the  Pacific 
slope.     Is  not  this  Cordillera  then  rightly  called  the  Mother  of  Rivers  ? 

The  fresh  waters  of  the  earth  come  from  the  clouds ;  the  clouds  come 
by  evaporation  from  the  expanses  of  the  oceans.  We  shall  know  that  the 
Sierra  Madre  divides  and  rules  the  meteoric  powers  and  aerial  fluids  of 
the  atmosphere,  equally  as  the  waters  which  we  see  descending  down  the 
flanks. 

But  let  me  at  present  restrict  myself  to  the  Cordillera  as  it  runs  athwart 
our  own  country,  and  define  its  varied  features  as  they  display  themselves 
to  my  eye,  looking  out  as  I  now  am  from  the  area  of  the  Great  Plains 
westward  to  the  Pacific. 

It  is  where  the  mountain  mass  debouches  north  from  the  Isthmus  of 
Tehuantepec,  that  it  bifurcates  into  the  two  primary  Cordilleras,  which 
continue  to  expand  from  one  another.  The  Mother  Mountain,  on  the  east, 
gives  its  form  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  whose  shore  it  pursues  nearly  to  the 
Pass  of  Monterey  and  Saltillo.  Hence  to  the  Arctic  Sea  the  crest  pre- 
serves a  very  regular  line  to  the  north-northwest. 

At  the  point  of  entrance  into  our  present  territory,  it  is  gorged  by  the 
canon  of  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte.  This  canon  is  a  gorge  cut  oblicjuely 
through  and  through  the  bowels  of  the  Cordillera,  where  the  river,  bur- 
rowing a  chasm  125  miles  in  length,  accomplishes  at  once  its  exit  into  the 
maritime  region  and  its  descent  from  the  '■'■Pldteau  of  the  Table  Lands'^ 
This  gorge,  impracticable  for  common  uses,  is  the  only  water  current  by 
which  the  Sierra  Madre  is  perforated  anywhere  between  the  extremities 
of  the  continent.  I  have  elsewdiere  spoken  of  this  canon,  together  with 
that  of  the  Colorado  and  that  of  the  Columbia,  as  the  three  remarkable 
and  only  water-gaps  whereby  the  plateau  discharges  its  surplus  waters  to 
the  seas. 

The  Cordillera  of  the  Sierra  Madre  enters  our  territory  in  latitude  29°, 


26  THE    COliDILLERA    OF    THE  SIERRA    MADRE. 

longitude  103°,  and  passes  beyond  the  49th  degree,  in  longitude  1 14°.  Its 
length,  tlien,  within  these  limits,  exceeds  16U0  miles.  It  maintains  an 
average  distance  from  the  Mississippi  River  exceeding  1000  miles,  and 
has  the  same  distance  from  the  beach  of  the  Pacific  Ocean ;  it  forms, 
therefore,  a  continuous  summit  crest  parallel  to  and  midway  between  them. 

All  the  varieties  of  formation  which  distingTiish  the  mountain  chains 
of  the  continents  here  follow  one  another,  or  are  blended  in  groups,  and 
exist  on  a  Titanic  scale  of  magnitude. 

Mesas  exist,  being  mountains  of  immense  base  and  perpendicular  walls, 
whose  summits  have  the  level  surface  and  smoothness  of  a  table :  Butes, 
which  are  conical  peaks  wrought  into  perfect  symmetry  of  contour  by  the 
corroding  power  of  the  atmosphere :  Llanos,  being  mesas  of  inferior  ele- 
vation prolonged  outward  as  promontories  protruding  from  the  mountain 
flanks,  and  separating  from  one  another  the  descending  rivers :  Canons, 
chasm.s  walled  in  on  either  side  with  mural  precipices  of  mountain  alti- 
tude ;  B((ijous,  ov  pares,  valleys  scooped  out  of  the  main  dorsal  mass  of  the 
Cordillera,  within  which  they  are  encased,  each  as  an  amphitheatre. 

This  mountain  crest,  exhibiting  all  these  varieties  of  profile,  has,  when 
seen  against  the  horizon,  the  resemblance  of  a  saw  or  cock's-comb,  whence 
the  sobriquet  Sierra  ;  the  continuous  mass  on  which  they  rest  resembles 
a  chain  of  links  or  cord  with  knots,  whence  the  name  Cordillera.  Thus 
is  seen  the  expressive  definition  wherein  the  first  Europeans,  the  Spaniards, 
our  predecessors,  have  compressed  this  supreme  mountain  feature  of  our 
continent,  Cordillera  de  la  Sierra  Madre  ! 

To  bring  the  mind  to  an  easy  and  familiar  understanding  of  this  sub- 
ject, cm])racing  so  many  details,  it  is  necessary  to  ascend  to  the  summit 
crest  at  the  forty-ninth  degree,  from  hence  to  follow  its  sinuous  edge  to 
the  south,  to  skim  from  point  to  point  of  the  serrated  profile,  and,  from 
this  elevation,  to  extend  the  vision  outward  on  either  flank  to  where  it 
subsides  into  the  general  foundation  of  the  continent. 

From  such  a  position  the  eye  continually  overlooks  the  "  Plateau  of 
the  Tahle  Lands'  on  the  west,  the  "  Basin  of  the  Mississippi"  on  the 
east. 

The  average  elevation  of  the  crest  is  12,000  feet  above  the  sea  ;  that  of 
the  broad  pediment,  from  whose  longitudinal  axis  it  rises,  6000  feet ;  the 
breadth  across  is  30(1  miles;  so  stupendous  in  area,  bulk,  and  solidity,  is 
the  ma.ss  of  the  Sierra  Madre  ! 

Every  one  has  built  card  houses  in  childhood,  having  a  second  story 
over  the  centre;  such  a  structure  illustrates  a  cross  section  of  the  Sierra 
Madre  in  its  primeval  form. 

This  regularity  of  form  has  disappeared  under  the  corroding  influences 


THE    CORDILLERA    OF    THE   SIERRA    MADRE.  27 

of  the  atmosjjhere,  operating  during  countless  ages,  and  the  aljrading 
powers  of  a  thousand  rivers,  carrying  down  their  attritions  to  the  sea. 
What' is  left  presents  an  ininicnse  labyrinth  of  mountain  summits,  under- 
mined and  channeled  to  a  profound  depth  by  the  yawning  gorges  of  the 
streams. 

Advancing  then  along  the  Mother  crest  in  tlie  direction  indicated,  the 
whole  eastern  flank  to  the  43d°  of  latitude,  and  109th°  of  longitude  (the 
South  Pass),  is  striped  witli  the  rivers  which  converge  to  form  the  Mis- 
souri proj)er  and  the  Yellowstone.  These  are  the  Milk  River,  the  Mis- 
souri, the  Wisdom,  Jefferson,  Madison,  and  Gallatin  forks,  all  converging 
into  the  Missouri ;  the  Yellowstone  proper,  the  AVind,  Pokcagic,  and 
Powder  Rivers,  all  converging  into  the  Yellowstone. 

These  rivers,  each  having  its  complement  of  aifluents,  arc  all  of  great 
length,  and  pour  down  an  immense  volume  of  waters.  A  very  small  pro- 
portion reaches  the  sea,  for  where  they  debouch  from  the  mountains  at 
the  lowest  altitude,  these  waters  are  consumed  by  evaporation,  rising  to 
quench  the  thirst  of  the  arid  atmosphere  and  surface  of  the  great  prairie 
ocean.  But  down  the  western  flank,  within  the  same  limits,  descend 
rivers  of  equal  number  and  magnitude,  going  to  traverse  the  elevated 
'■^  Basin  of  the  Colurnbia  f^  these  are  the  Columbia  proper,  the  Cottonais, 
the  Flatbow,  Pend-oreilles,  Spokan,  Salmon,  and  Snake  Rivers. 

These  rivers  have  a  more  immediate  descent  to  the  sea  than  those  upon 
the  east ;  the  mountain  spurs  between  them  are,  therefore,  more  numer- 
ous, abrupt,  and  of  greater  altitude. 

It  is  easily  discernible  that  over  this  serrated  crest,  whence  so  many 
rivers  radiate  as  from  a  single  knife-edge,  there  are  many  depressions  or 
passes,  having  every  variety  of  altitude  and  accessibility.  The  gorges 
which  lead  outward  from  these  passes,  all  eventually  converge  to  the  Mis- 
souri and  to  the  Columbia. 

The  more  southern  portion  of  this  mountain  crest,  where  it  divides  the 
waters  of  the  Yellowstone  and  Snake  Rivers,  and  is  seen  from  the  great 
road  of  the  South  Pass  traveled  by  our  people,  has  the  local  name  of 
"Wind  River  Mountain."  The  mountain  crest,  curving  to  the  east,  and 
describing  a  semicircle,  envelops  the  whole  basin  of  the  Yellowstone  as  in 
a  culrde-sac,  and,  subsiding  gradually  in  altitude,  disappears  upon  the 
bank  of  the  Missouri. 

It  is  by  this  peculiar  configuration  that  the  mountain  crest  here  practi- 
cally disappears,  and  leaves  the  open  depression  of  the  South  Pass,  into 
which  we  gain  access  by  the  Sweetwater  on  the  east,  and  by  Snake  River 
on  the  west,  passing,  by  this  means,  completely  around  the  arc  described 
by  the  Wind  River  Mountain  crest. 


28  THE    CORDILLERA    OF    THE  SIERRA    MADRE. 

A  similar  configuration  to  this  exists,  on  a  small  scale,  in  the  Alps 
dividing  France  from  Italy,  which  may  be  mentioned  here  on  account  of 
the  aptness  of  the  illustration  and  the  familiarity  with  which  history  has 
for  twenty  centuries  invested  it. 

It  is  where  the  Alpine  crest,  under  the  successive  names  of  Savoy  Alps, 
Mount  Cenis,  and  Maritime  Alps,  sweeps  round  in  a  regular  arc  from 
Geneva  to  Genoa,  and  thence  subsiding  into  the  Apennines,  bisects  Italy 
lengthwise  to  the  sea. 

Within  this  arc  is  embraced  the  basin  of  the  Po,  called  once  Liguria, 
but  now  Piedmont.  Around  this  arc  marched  the  armies  of  Brennus  and 
Hannibal  •  those  of  the  Romans  passing  into  Gaul  by  the  plain  of  the 
Rhone ;  and  here  also  still  pass  the  armies  and  people  of  France  and  the 
modern  Europeans. 

Upon  Snake  River  is  developed  the  most  northern  of  the  pares.  As 
this  river  descends  from  the  Sierra  Madre,  it  debouches  into  and  bisects 
an  immense  plain  of  the  most  novel  and  remarkable  features.  This  is  the 
Lava  Plain.  It  is  an  elliptical  bowl,  embraced  between  the  Salmon  River 
and  Snake  River  Mountains,  325  miles  in  length  and  95  in  breadth.  It 
is  a  uniform  pedrigal  or  flat  surface  of  vitrified  basalt,  melted  by  volcanic 
fires,  and  congealed  as  into  a  lake  of  cast  iron. 

Along  its  longitudinal  axis  stand  isolated  peaks,  known  as  the  "  Three 
Butes,"  which  erect  themselves  to  the  snow  line,  like  volcanic  cones  pro- 
truding above  the  sea.  Cracks  of  profound  depth  traverse  this  plain, 
whose  blasted  surface  is  without  vegetation  or  water.  It  is  traversed 
beneath  by  subterranean  streams,  which  issue  from  natural  tunnels  in  the 
wall  of  Snake  River,  plunging  into  its  bed  by  magnificeht  cascades. 

Bald  nakedness,  rather  than  sterility,  is  the  extreme  characteristic  of 
this  wonderful  plain,  which  has  around  its  rim  a  fringe  of  little  "  oases'' 
upon  the  streams  bubbling  from  the  mountain  base,  of  exquisite  fertility 
and  of  the  most  perfect  romantic  beauty. 

When  we  call  to  memory  the  interest  attracted  in  every  age  to  the 
diminutive  formations  of  crystalline  basalt  upon  the  north  of  Ireland,  near 
the  city  of  Mexico,  and  in  Southern  Italy,  we  are  struck  with  awe  at  the 
repetition  here  of  these  same  phenomena,  on  a  scale  of  stujiendous  grandeur. 

Upon  the  alternate  flank  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  the  bowl  of  the  Yellow- 
stone properly  classifies  itself  as  the  second  in  order  of  the  pares,  having 
its  oval  form  streaked  longitudinally  with  many  parallel  and  narrow  moun- 
tain ridges  gorged  by  parallel  rivers.  This  pare  is  very  fertile,  of  the 
grandest  scenery,  and  a  delightful  climate. 

Such  is  a  partial  sketch  of  the  Cordillera  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  from  the 
49th°  to  the  43d°  of  latitude.     A  few  denominating  features  only  are 


THE   CORDILLEIiA    OF    THE  SI  El!  II A    MA  DUE.  29 

pointed  out ;  the  serrated  crests,  alternately  risiiii;  into  ])eaks  and  mesas 
above  the  snows,  and  depressed  by  passes ;  the  flanks  fi;orged  hy  descend- 
ing rivers  or  branching  out  into  mountain  spurs  between  them — the  pares ; 
the  general  direction  is  south-southeast. 

I  omit  to  speak  of  the  regions  around  the  higher  sources  of  the  Mis- 
souri and  Columbia,  and  still  onward  to  the  north,  not  because  they  arc 
less  interesting  and  attractive,  but  because  I  have  not  myself  sei-n  them, 
and  because  they  are  of  identical  features,  and  are  as  yet  remote  fntm  the 
column  of  progressing  empire. 

The  third  j^ayc  is  the  plain  of  the  South  Pass.  Although  adjacent  to 
the  other  two,  it  is  in  perfect  contrast  to  them  in  all  its  characteristic 
features.  Its  surface  of  clay  has  the  perfect  smoothness  of  a  water  plain, 
over  which  the  eye  ranges  without  interruption.  Kain  is  rare,  and  the 
vegetation  of  grass  and  artemisia  scanty  and  uniform. 

Upon  its  south  front  rises  again  the  Cordillera,  under  the  local  name  of 
Table  Mountain.  This  forms  an  immense  arc,  similar  to  the  Wind  Kiver 
Mountain,  but  in  the  opposite  direction,  for,  turning  to  the  southwest,  it 
subsides  to  the  Rio  Verde,  which  is  the  great  Colorado.  These  two  arcs 
approach  one  another  within  thirty  miles,  forming  a  double  corner  over 
the  gorge  through  which  the  Sweetwater  escapes.  To  mark  the  conti- 
nuity of  the  mother  crest,  a  gentle  crown  traverses  the  plain  from  one 
mountain  corner  to  the  other,  only  traceable  by  the  perfect  division  which 
it  makes  between  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans. 

In  the  Table  Mountain  the  Cordilkra  rises  again.  It  resumes  its  direc- 
tion, configuration,  and  altitude,  which  it  preserves  with  uninterrupted 
uniformity  clear  through  the  continent  to  Tehuantepec.  As  far  as  the  38th 
degree  of  latitude  it  sheds  the  waters  of  the  great  Colorado  from  its  western 
flank ;  those  of  the  Platte  and  Arkansas  Rivers  from  its  eastern  flank. 

I  am  admonished  here  to  pause  and  fix  attention  on  the  number,  gran- 
deur, and  variety  of  the  physical  elements  combined  around  this  culmi- 
nating point  of  the  mountains  and  the  rivers  of  our  continent. 

Nature  here,  more  perfectly  than  at  any  other  point  upon  the  globe, 
unites  into  one  grand  covp-d'oeil  all  her  grandest  features,  which,  harmo- 
niously grouped,  present  to  the  mind  a  combination  of  superlative  sub- 
limity. 

These  contrasted  pares,  so  different,  yet  so  close  together !  the  intense 
massiveness  of  the  Cordillera  !  the  number  and  proximity  of  great  rivers ! 
the  brilliancy  and  serenity  of  the  atmosphere  in  which  they  shine !  the 
awful  storms  which  at  long  intervals  brew  among  and  shatter  the  iced 
mountain  tops  !  the  graphic  conviction  ever  present  to  the  mind  of  the 
immediate  presence  and  presiding  omnipotence  of  the  Creator  ! 


30  THE   CORDILLERA    OF    THE   SIERRA    MADRE. 

The  impression  left  with  me,  and  made  by  the  peculiar  grit  and  appear- 
ance of  the  soil  which  overlays  the  plain  of  the  South  Pass,  is  of  a 
'•'  placer  of  kaoline,"  resembling  the  biscuit  from  which  porcelain  is  burned. 
This  is  disintegrated,  and  washed  down  from  the  bald  mountain  flanks  of 
porphyritic  granite.  Whether  there  may  be  also  here  concealed  immense 
placers  of  gold  and  jirecious  stones,  coming  from  the  same  source,  is  not 
yet  tested ;  but  such  ought  to  be  the  fact,  from  the  pure  auriferous  mate- 
rial of  the  mountains. 

To  resume  again  the  pursuit  of  the  mountain  crest.  This  continues  to 
recover  its  altitude.  Soon  upon  the  eastern  flank  the  Northern  Pare,  or 
Bull-pen,  reveals  itself;  along  whose  centre  meanders  the  great  Platte 
River,  here  running  to  the  north  in  a  direction  contrary  to  the  mountain 
crest.  This  is  the  fourth  in  number  of  the  pares,  but  has  been  the  first 
and  best  known  in  popular  reputation. 

Being  very  large,  very  central,  and  easily  accessible  to  us  going  out  from 
the  lower  Missouri,  it  became  the  first  favorite  winter  home  of  the  early 
trajDpers  and  explorei's.  It  is  an  amphitheatre  of  large  area,  whose  moun- 
tain walls,  covered  with  soil,  vegetation,  and  scattered  forests  of  evergreens, 
slope  gradually  up  on  every  side.  Its  level  plain  is  laced  with  streams 
and  checkered  with  meadows,  sparkling  with  flowers  and  romantic  groves, 
in  perfectly  graceful  alternations ;  its  atmosphere  is  genial  and  exhilara- 
ting, and  the  temperature  mild  throughout  the  year. 

Immediately  beyond  the  highest  extremity  of  \X\q  fourth,  but  upon  the 
west  or  alternate  flank  of  the  mountain  crest,  the  eye  drops  into  the  bowl 
of  the  fifth  or  Middle  Pare,  expanding  to  contain  the  confluent  streams 
which  form  the  grand  river  of  the  Colorado. 

This  pare  is  larger  in  area  than  ihe  fourth,  but  is  vexed  with  far-pro- 
truding mountain  spurs,  narrow  streams  rattling  over  rocky  beds,  and  a 
cloudy  atmosphere,  made  fitful  by  the  altitude  and  close  proximity  of  snow- 
clad  mountain  backs.  This  pare  has  its  mouth  towards  the  Pacific. 
Towering  up  from  the  mountain  crest,  where  it  divides  these  two  pares, 
rises  the  snowy  head  of  Long's  Peak,  whose  eastern  front  beetles  over  the 
Great  Plains,  from  which  it  is  seen  for  fifty  leagues  by  those  who  travel 
up  the  Basin  of  the  Kansas. 

Still  immediately  follows  on  the  eastern  flanks  the  Bayou  Salado,  or  South- 
ern Pare,  which  is  the  sixth.  This  is  the  mountain's  bowl,  scooped  out 
for  itself  by  the  Southern  Platte,  as  it  descends  from  the  snowy  cap  of 
Lincoln's  Peak.  This  pare  has  the  same  general  characteristics  as  the 
fourth,  but  is  greatly  inferior  to  it  in  size,  fertility,' and  climate,  being 
closely  hedged  in  by  great  mountains,  from  whose  snows  descend  incessant 
storms,  and  a  febrile  damjiness  infesting  the  atmo.sphere.     From  the  same 


THE   CORDILLERA    OF    THE   SIERRA    MADRE.  31 

glacier  wliicli  surmounts  Lincoln's  Peak  descends  the  Arkansas  River  upon 
the  reverse  slope.  The  river  has  no  pare  ;  it  defiles  into  the  plains  through 
a  canon. 

Here  is  discernible  in  the  mountain  crest  the  same  curvilinear  sweep  as 
in  the  Wind  River  mass.  Here  occurs  a  similar  concentric  knot  of  moun- 
tain crests,  rivers,  and  pares.  But  here  the  mountain  crest,  having  curved 
outward  to  accomplish  the  separation  of  the  Platte  and  Arkansas,  con- 
denses into  the  snowy  promontory  of  Pike's  Peak,  and  terminates  in  an 
abrupt  precipice  to  the  Great  Plains. 

At  both  of  these  remarkable  focal  points,  nature  seems  to  have  insti- 
tuted a  primeval  conflict  between  the  abrading  power  of  the  rivers  and 
the  stubborn  resistance  of  the  porphyritic  durability  of  the  mountain 
barrier.  At  the  northern  focus,  the  triumph  of  the  rivers  presents  a  com- 
plete harmony  of  the  passes,  which  enter  at  all  points  upon  the  plain 
of  the  South  Pass,  and  connect  across  it.  At  the  southern  focus,  the 
unscathed  impenetrability  of  the  mountain  porphyry  presents  on  every 
front  its  mural  precipice  of  undiminished  altitude  ;  here,  then,  the  aus- 
tere rigidity  of  the  mountain  mass  triumphs  and  admits  no  transit  direct 
through. 

To  complete  the  perfect  counterpart  resemblance  between  these  foci, 
opens  from  the  western  flank  of  the  mother  crest,  the  Bayou  San  Luis, 
which  is  the  seventh  pare. 

This  is,  in  physical  formation  and  in  every  detail,  the  exact  twin 
counterpart  of  the  pare  of  the  "  Plain  of  the  South  Pass."  The  Sierra 
Mimbres  bounds  its  western  edge,  along  whose  base  flows  the  Rio  Bravo 
del  Norte. 

Elliptical  in  shape,  level  as  the  sea,  equal  to  the  third  pare  in  area, 
encompassed  by  the  sublimest  scenery,  abundantly  irrigated  by  streams, 
6500  feet  in  altitude,  it  has  an  alluvial  soil  of  luxuriant  fertility,  and 
seasons  eminently  propitious  to  agriculture.  It  is  in  this  delicious  "  £ai/ 
of  the  Sierras''  that  the  current  flow  of  time  will  find  renewed,  identified, 
and  developed,  all  the  charms  with  which  Oriental  narrative  and  song 
have  invested  the  lovely  Valley  of  Kashmere ! 

The  Spanish  Peaks  outflank  the  mountain  crest  under  the  38th  degree  of 
latitude.  From  hence  to  the  29th  degree  it  sheds  the  waters  of  the  Rio 
Bravo  del  Norte  from  its  western  flank  ;  from  the  eastern  flank  descend  the 
Arkansas  and  the  Red  River,  flowing  to  the  Mississippi,  and  the  rivers  of 
Texas,  flowing  directly  to  the  Gulf. 

The  whole  front  is  masked  towards  the  east  with  a  screen  of  secondary 
mesas  (tables)  termed  distinctively  llanos.  These  are  immense  triang-ular 
terraces,  of  half  the  altitude  of  the  Sierra,  resting  against  its  flank,  pro- 


32  THE    CORDILLERA    OF    THE   SIERRA    MA  ORE. 

ti'udiiig  outward  many  hundred  miles,  gradually  dwarfing  in  breadth  until 
they  terminate  in  an  acute  angle. 

They  have  an  uninterrupted  level  surface  of  calcareous  soil,  a  scanty 
herbage,  and  rainless  atmosphere,  an  imperceptible  dip  towards  their  ter- 
minations, where  they  present  an  abrupt  wall  of  many  thousand  feet  in 
altitude,  suspended  above  the  Great  Plains. 

All  along  these  mural  flanks  come  out  innumerable  streams,  which  go 
to  form  the  Arkansas,  the  Red  lliver,  and  all  the  rivers  which  traverse 
Texas.  Thus  is  explained  the  confusion  which  perplexes  the  public  mind, 
struggling  to  arrange  the  physit^al  configuration  of  this  immense  region, 
as  yet  only  jtartially  explored. 

To  the  ^Mexican  people  who  inhabit  the  higher  mountain  region,  this  is 
known  as  the  lower  plain ;  by  the  people  of  the  maritime  region,  who  see 
from  below  its  ragged  front,  it  is  designated  as  the  Guadaloupe  Moun- 
tains, and  by  other  names. 

But  this  system  of  llanos,  seen  most  distinctly  in  Texas  as  the  Llano 
Estacado  and  the  Llano  of  the  Balsifoeta,  has  an  extent  and  magnitude 
on  a  scale  commensurate  with  all  the  other  distinctive  formations.  It  is 
the  continuous  screen  or  Piedmont  which  graduates  the  immense  declina- 
tion in  altitude  from  the  summit  crest  of  the  Cordillera  to  the  smooth 
expanse  of  the  Great  Plains.  It  appears  from  above  as  a  depressed  mesa  ; 
from  below  as  a  series  of  ragged  mountain  chains.  Geologically  it  is,  as 
it  were,  a  continental  terrace  or  steppe,  or  bench  of  the  sidphate  of  lime 
(plaster  of  Paris),  elevated  above  the  Great  Plains,  whi(;h  are  carbonate 
of  lime  ;  depressed  below  the  Cordillera,  which  is  porphyritic  granite. 

I  may  with  proj^riety  pause  here  to  speak  of  the  Basin  of  the  Kansas, 
both  on  account  of  the  fitness  of  the  opportunity,  and  because  this  delicious 
country,  surrounding  the  very  navel  of  our  continent  and  embracing  its 
geographical  centre,  has  from  that  fact  a  perpetual  and  paramount  interest. 

The  Kansas  River  has  its  extreme  sources  beneath  the  roots  of  Pike's 
Peak,  where  they  have  ceased  to  interrupt  the  plains.  The  Platte  and 
Arkansas  envelop  it,  and  form  a  line  of  drainage  between  it  and  the  Cor- 
dillera. But  in  front  of  the  Kansas  Basin  the  screen  of  the  Piedmont  is 
interrupted  and  disappears,  so  that  the  Great  Plains  stretch  up  to  the  base 
of  the  naked  Cordillera,  which  reveals  at  one  sight  the  towering  masses 
of  Pike's  and  Long's  Peaks,  and  the  curtain  of  snowy  mountains  which 
connects  them. 

A  similar  coup-d'oeil  is  seen,  as  presents  itself  to  an  Italian  standing 
upon  the  Po  above  Milan,  whose  eye  sweeps  the  Plain  of  Lombardy,  and 
ascends  to  the  snowy  summits  of  the  highest  Alps,  without  any  interven- 
ing objects  to  interrupt  the  vision.     A  similar  resemblance  to  the  Alpine 


THE   CORDILLERA    OF    THE  SIERRA    MM) RE.  33 

formation  which  characterizes  the  partially-explored  masses  immediately  to 
the  west,  has  acquired  for  them  the  local  name  of  "  Helvetian  {Mountains." 

From  these  two  peaks, — Long's  Peak  to  the  north,  and  Pike's  Peak  to 
the  south, — as  from  twin  radiating  points,  the  Piedmont  expands  from  the 
eastern  flank  of  the  Cordillera,  like  a  half-open  fan.  Towards  the  north 
are  the  Medicine-Bow  INIountain  and  the  Laramie  Plain  ;  towards  the  south, 
the  Ratone  Mountain,  the  Llano  Balsifoeta,  and  the  Llano  Estacado. 

Such  is  an  eifort  to  delineate  and  classify  the  prominent  physical  features 
of  the  Mother  Cordillera  of  our  country ;  the  serrated  axis  which  forms 
its  core ;  the  system  of  pares ;  the  system  of  rivers  and  mountain  spurs  ; 
the  peaks  and  mesas  ;  the  system  of  llanos.  Its  material  mass  is  primeval 
granite.  Volcanoes,  active  or  extinct,  craters  and  their  igneous  discharges, 
are  not  found.    (These  exist  upon  the  Plateau  and  in  the  Andes  heyond.) 

This  Cordillera  is  auriferous  throughout.  It  contains  all  forms  of 
minerals,  metals,  stones,  salts,  and  earths ;  in  short,  every  useful  shape  in 
which  matter  is  elsewhere  found  to  arrange  itself,  and  in  all  the  geological 
gradations. 

The  prominent  agricultural  feature  of  the  Cordillera  is  fertility — pastoral 
fertility.  Stupendous  peaks  and  battlements  exist,  extreme  in  bald  and 
sterile  nakedness  ;  plains  there  are  blasted  with  perpetual  aridity  and  con- 
gealed by  perpetual  frosts. 

The  space  thus  occupied  is  small ;  indigenous  grasses,  fruits,  and  vege- 
tables abound  ;  it  swarms  with  animal  life  and  aboriginal  cattle ;  food  of 
grazing  and  carnivorous  animals,  fowls  and  fish,  is  everywhere  found ;  the 
forests  and  flora  are  superlative  ;  the  immense  dimensions  of  nature  render 
accessibility  universal.  An  atmosphere  of  intense  brilliancy  and  tonic 
tone  overflows  and  embalms  all  nature ;  health  and  longevity  are  the  lot 
of  man. 

It  is  necessary  to  be  condensed  and  brief.  A  million  of  interesting 
facts  are  left  unmentioned.  Then  the  Cordillera  of  the  Sierra  Madre  is 
but  a  third  part  in  area  of  our  ^^  mountain  formation^  If  the  inquiring 
spirit  and  patriarchal  fire  of  Jeffbrson  and  of  Astor  still  burn  in  the  pop- 
ular heart,  the  continental  mission  of  1776  will  revive  and  reanimate  our 
generation.  Counterfeit  geography,  promulgated  with  oflicial  dogmatism, 
will  cease  to  be  fashionable,  or  to  defeat  the  divine  instinct  of  the  people. 
Patriotism,  pioneered  by  truth  and  genuine  science,  will  reveal  and  com- 
prehend our  continental  geography  as  it  is,  huge  in  dimensions,  sublime  in 
order  and  symmeti-y,  a  unity  in  plan.  Our  political  and  social  empire, 
expanded  to  the  same  dimensions,  harmonized  to  the  same  checkered 
variety,  will  assume  a  similar  order,  a  like  symmetry,  and  cruwii  hope  with 
a  similar  solid  and  enduring  perpetuity. 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE   PLATEAU   OP    NORTH    AMERICA. 

It  is  now  twenty-seven  years,  nearly  a  full  generation,  since  I  submitted 
to  the  scrutiny  of  science  and  the  public  "J.  Hydrographic  Map  of 
North  Amenca"  exhibiting  in  daguerreotype  the  cardinal  physical  archi- 
tecture of  our  continent.  Upon  this  is  exactly  defined  the  Mountain 
Formation,  inclosing  the  Plateau  of  the  Table  Lands.  This  subdivision 
of  our  country,  amounting  to  one-third  of  the  whole  area,  comes  now  in 
the  bounding  march  of  empire,  to  have  a  necessary,  an  intense,  a  pre-emi- 
nent interest  to  our  people. 

Undoubtedly  the  scheme  of  Independence,  inaugurated  in  1776,  sus- 
tained through  the  fortitude  of  the  Revolution,  and  consummated  in  the 
Union  of  1787,  contemplated  and  commenced  a  Continental  Republic ! 
In  the  ripening  of  time,  we  are  now  called  upon  to  receive  into  this  con- 
tinental Union  the  independent  and  equal  States  of  the  Plateau,  and  to 
construct  across  it  a  complete  system  of  continental  railway. 

How  it  is  that  immense  facts,  dormant  since  creation,  and  noticed  only 
to  be  unanimously  rejected  by  human  society,  flash  suddenly  out  of  mid- 
night obscurity,  and  by  a  single  step  plant  themselves  upon  the  very 
throne  itself  of  public  attention,  may  be  thus  illustrated :  Columbus, 
intent  upon  discovering  a  direct  route  by  sea  to  Oriental  Asia,  died  with- 
out any  thought  of  the  new  continent,  or  knowledge  that  he  had  seen  it. 
Amerigo  Vespucci,  a  younger  navigator,  identified  the  new  continent, 
established  its  existence  in  the  popular  mind,  and  gave  to  it  his  own  name, 
America. 

Thus,  in  1842,  commenced  to  agitate  itself  throughout  America,  the 
energetic  geographical  movement,  to  reorganize  the  column  of  central  pro- 
gi-ess  artificially  stagnated  in  Missouri  since  1820. 

Exploration,  conquest,  the  conversion  of  the  wilderness,  have  since 
advanced  with  intense  celerity. 

As  is  the  case  with  all  normal  instincts:  war,  peace,  domestic  and 
foreign  schemes  of  opposition,  have  each  contributed  to  precipitate  its 
advance  and  fire  its  activity. 

The  American  people  are,  then,  now  advancing,  victoriously  to  plant 
34 


ec 


\i^'\i.!l 


MAJ'    1)1'' 

NOUTII    AMl<:m(  A 

.U-liiu-alim,.   111.- 
MlH  ST. MS  SYSTKM . ivu nsWCT. UI.S. 

riic  (>ui;at  I'.xLr.vHKors  im..\ix  as  »  ixi  i 

mi</  III,  ,,,i,l„„„ 
MARITIME     SELVAGE 


TEE  PLATEAU   OF  NORTH  AMERICA.  35 

democratic  empire  co-equal  with  the  area  of  the  continent.  The  jn-and 
novelty  which  rises  in  front,  is  the  Plateau  of  the  Table  Lanih.  This 
Plateau,  inclosed  within  the  Cordilleras  of  the  Mountain  Formation,  pos- 
sesses characteristics  new  to  mankind,  and  about  to  arrest  the  attention  and 
sway  the  mental  energies  of  America. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  necessary,  by  reference  and  comparison,  to  iden- 
tify this  Plateau  ;  to  discover  what  and  where  it  is ;  and  thence  to  go  on 
and  demonstrate  its  area,  its  climate,  its  capacity,  and  its  geographical 
power  in  the  world. 

Asia  contains  two  plateaux;  South  America,  one;  North  America,  one. 
Europe  and  Africa  have  great  mountain  chains,  but  no  plateau. 

The  immense  Plateau  of  Asia  occupies  the  central  region  of  that  con- 
tinent, extending  east  and  west  from  the  Pontic  Sea  to  Middle  China.  It 
is  inclosed  between  the  Himalaya  Mountains  and  those  of  Siberia,  em- 
bracing the  upper  and  lower  plains  of  Thibet  and  the  great  lakes,  the 
Caspian  Sea,  the  Sea  of  Aral,  and  the  Balkash  Sea,  with  the  rivers  that 
flow  into  them. 

This  great  space  is  fenced  imperviously  from  the  oceans  by  a  circuit  of 
primeval  mountains :  it  extends  east  and  west  4800  miles,  between  the 
latitudes  35°  and  50°.  Its  average  breadth,  north  and  south,  is  1200 
miles. 

Such  is  the  immense  continental  plateau  of  Asia,  of  which  our  knowl- 
edge is  imperfect,  as  to  its  population  and  the  grade  of  civilization  they 
fill.  We  know  that  from  primeval  time,  periodical  swarms  of  conquering 
barbarians  have  descended  down  its  flanks  and  deluged  all  the  continents 
to  the  seas,  convulsing  empires  and  displacing  all  organized  societies. 
These  convulsions  have  extended  to  the  extremities  of  China,  of  India, 
of  Europe,  and  into  Africa. 

Such  is  a  short  and  significant  memorandum  of  this  plateau,  reniarkalile 
for  the  high  antiquity,  the  numbers,  and  the  uniform  barbarism  of  its 
populations.     It  is  entirely  north  of  the  isothermal  temperate  zone. 

The  Plateau  of  Syria  occupies  the  space  between  the  Persian  and  Red 
Seas  :  the  Dead  Sea  is  within  it  and  the  peninsula  of  Arabia  :  it  has  no 
large  rivers,  but  is  flanked  by  the  Euphrates,  the  Nile,  and  the  ^lediter- 
ranean.     It  lies  across  the  Isothermal  temperate  zone  from  edge  to  edge. 

Here  is  the  original  birthplace  and  cradle  of  human  history  and 
inspired  civilization.  Down  its  flanks  have  descended  all  the  ethereal 
systems  of  the  world,  which  enter  the  heart  of  men  and  inspire  true 
religion,  true  knowledge,  political  liberty,  and  which  erect,  enlarge,  and 
perpetuate  civilized  society.  Hence  have  gone  forth  to  the  extremities  of 
the  earth  and  to  the  human  race  throughout  all  time,  the  genuine  oracles 


36  THE   PLATEAU   OF  XORTII  A  M  Ell  I C A. 

of  God  revealing  religion  and  liberty,  to  achieve  the  conquest  of  idolatry 
and  barbarism,  and  displace  them  from  tlie  human  heart. 

Beneath  the  equator,  upon  the  summit  of  the  Peruvian  mountains,  is 
the  Plateau  of  the  Andes.  Here  was  the  delicate  empire  and  system  of 
the  Incas,  which  withered  before  Pizarro  and  the  Spaniards  as  a  vine 
before  the  tropical  siroc.  It  contains  the  Lake  of  Titicaca,  and  is  without 
large  rivers.  Of  excessive  elevation  and  aridity,  small  in  area,  arduous 
of  access,  and  approachable  only  through  torrid  heats  which  surround  its 
base  and  flanks,  this  Plateau  is  entirely  without  the  belt  of  the  isothermal 
temperate  zone. 

Such  are  the  three  other  Plateaux.  We  now  approach  the  fourth — our 
own — the  Plateau  of  Xorth  America. 

I  have  heretofore  written  of  this  Plateau :  "  I  speak  with  great  diffi- 
dence ;  but  of  all  the  departments  into  which  science  has  arranged  the 
physical  geography  of  the  globe,  this  appears  to  me  the  most  interesting, 
the  most  crowded  with  various  and  attractive  features,  and  the  most  cer- 
tainly destined  eventually  to  contain  the  most  powerful  and  enlightened 
empire  of  the  world. 

"  At  present  it  is  no  more  known  or  comprehended,  as  it  is,  by  the  Ameri- 
can people,  than  was  America  itself  by  the  poet  Homer.  It  is  to  them 
as  much  a  myth  as  was  then  the  continent  of  Atalanta.  Nevertheless,  it 
is  of  such  great  area  as  to  contain  within  itself  three  great  rivers  which 
rank  with  the  Nile,  the  Ganges,  and  the  Danube  in  length,  and  five  great 
ranges  of  primary  mountains." 

The  Andes,  where  it  issues  from  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  divides 
into  the  two  Cordilleras  of  the  north.  The  one  pursues  the  shores  of  the 
Mexican  Gulf;  the  other,  the  shores  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  Cordil- 
leras, continuing  to  open  from  one  another,  run,  with  great  uniformity  of 
bulk  and  altitude,  through  to  the  Polar  Sea.  At  the  43d  degree  of  lati- 
tude till  y  are  1400  miles  asunder,  which  is  here  the  breadth  of  the  Plateau. 

The  eastern  Cordillera  is  the  Sierra  Madre  (the  Mother  Mountain); 
the  v:estern  Cordillera  is  the  Sierra  Nevada  de  los  Andes  (the  Snowy 
Andes). 

This,  then,  the  whole  immense  area  encased  within  the  Cordilleras  from 
Tehuantepec  to  the  Polar  Sea,  is  the  Plateau  of  North  America !  The 
Cordilleras  have  a  general  altitude  of  12,000  feet;  the  Plateau,  of  6000. 
The  Plateau  is  4000  miles  in  length,  having  its  direction  from  southeast 
to  northwest ;  its  superficial  area  is  2,000,000  square  miles.  The  portion 
within  our  territories  is  one-third  of  the  whole  country. 

Such,  then,  are  the  geographical  position,  the  area,  and  the  altitude  of 
the  Plateav.     Its  lonffitvdinal  position  is  remarkable,  having  its  extremi- 


THE   PLATEAU   OF  NORTH  AMERICA.  37 

ties  within  the  equatorial  and  the  polar  zones ;  but  its  greatest  breadth 
and  ai-ea  is  across  the  Isothermal  temperate  zone.  Its  whole  western  front 
is  closely  flanked  by  the  Pacific  Ocean ;  its  eastern  front  by  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  and  the  Calcai'eous  Plain.  It  erects  itself  continuously  along 
between  these,  and  either  connects  them  together  or  separates  them 
asunder. 

The  Plateau  has  a  general  configuration,  simple  as  a  unit  in  the  physi- 
cal geography  of  the  globe  ;  the  details  are  infinite  and  complicated,  all 
marked  by  a  grandeur  in  harmony  with  its  vastness.  In  the  elements 
which  attract  and  perpetuate  the  social  host  of  civilized  men,  no  other 
region  can  assert  or  hold  communion  with  it.  It  denominates  as  a  stand- 
ard, which  can  have  no  equal. 

It  is  subdivided  into  seven  great  basins,  which  succeed  one  another  in 
order  from  the  south  towards  the  north.  The  basin  of  the  city  of  Mexico 
is  ike  first  and  most  known.  A  central  lake  collects  the  waters  of  the 
basin,  which  has  no  drainage  to  the  sea. 

The  second  basin  is  the  Bolson  de  Mapimi.  The  Laguna  de  Mapimi 
collects  its  waters,  and  is  also  unconnected  with  the  sea.  These  basins 
are  divided  asunder  by  the  Sierra  of  Queretaro,  which  connects  the  Cor- 
dilleras across. 

The  third  is  the  basin  of  the  Rio  Bravo  del  Norte,  which  is  divided 
from  the  second  by  the  transverse  mountain  chain  of  the  Rio  Florida. 
This  immense  basin  is  drained  by  the  rivers  Del  Norte,  Pecos,  and  Conchos, 
which,  uniting  against  the  Sierra  Madre,  gorge  it  by  a  canon  and  form 
below  the  Rio  Grande  of  the  Mexican  Gulf. 

The  fourth  is  the  basin  of  the  Colorado.  The  great  Sierra  Mimbres 
divides  these  two  basins  asunder  after  the  manner  of  a  backbone,  from 
which  their  waters  descend  down  the  reverse  slopes.  They  are  longitu- 
dinal, parallel,  and  overlap  one  another.  Distinguished  by  stupendous  vol- 
canic phenomena,  they  pre-eminently  constitute  the  metalliferous  region 
of  the  world.  The  confluent  rivers  of  this  basin,  where  they  unite  to  form 
the  Colorado,  gorge  the  Andes  by  the  wonderful  canon  of  that  name,  and 
debouch  into  the  California  Gulf. 

T\\Q  fifth  is  the  basin  of  the  Salt  Lake,  divided  from  the  last  by  the 
great  Sierra  Wasatch.  Within  the  vast  circuit  of  its  mountain  rims,  are 
contained  many  stagnant  lakes  receiving  rivers  of  fresh  water.  This  basin 
has  no  outlet  to  the  sea. 

The  sixth  is  the  basin  of  the  Columbia.  The  transverse  chain  of  the 
Snake  River  Mountains  parts  these  two  last  basins.  Here  is  seen  a  most 
wonderful  display  of  natural  phenomena.  The  Snake  and  Columbia  Rivers, 
coming  from  opposite  directions  and  penetrating  immense  mountains,  unite 


38  THE  PLATEAU   OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 

together,  gorge  the  Andes  at  the  Cascades,  and  debouch  into  the  North 
Pacific  Ocean. 

The  seventh  is  the  basin  of  Frazer  River.  The  Olympian  chain  divides 
it  from  the  Columbia.  From  hence  the  Plateau  continues  its  direction 
through  a  region  as  yet  but  little  known,  and  opens  out  upon  the  Polar 
Sea. 

If  a  thread  be  drawn  longitudinally  through  the  Plateau,  equidistant 
from  the  Cordilleras,  it  will  bisect  a  line  of  sedimentary  lakes  resting  as 
in  the  bottom  of  a  trough.  These  are  the  Lake  of  Mexico,  the  Laguna, 
Gusman's  Lake,  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  the  Pend-oreilles  and  Okanagan 
lakes.  These  waters  have  an  average  elevation  of  GOOO  feet  above  the 
sea.  The  whole  bulk  of  the  Plateau  has  then  the  altitude  of  a  primary 
mountain. 

If  the  stupendous  features  of  nature  are  allowed  their  solemnity  of 
impression,  and  the  majestic  length  and  bulk  of  the  Cordilleras  be 
admitted,  we  may  now  understand  what  is  the  immense  subdivision  of  our 
continent  encased  within  them.  We  may  receive  and  handle  it  as  a  unit, 
assign  to  it  a  name,  "  The  Plateau"  and  identify  its  extent,  its  distinct- 
ive profile  and  position. 

The  climate  of  the  Plateau  is  local  and  peculiar,  but  very  uniform.  The 
Cordilleras,  by  their  altitude  and  remoteness  from  the  sea,  exclude  the 
ocean  vapors  from  the  Plateau.  A  rainless  atmosphere,  perpetually  dry, 
tonic,  and  transparent,  is  the  normal  condition  throughout  the  year.  Alti- 
tude and  aridity  united,  temper  the  heat  towards  the  equatorial  zone  ;  the 
same  causes  temper  the  cold  towards  the  polar  zone.  The  extremes  of 
temperature  for  the  day  and  for  the  night  are  great ;  for  the  seasons  of 
the  year,  scarcely  perceptible.  In  one  word,  the  temperature  is  uniformly 
vernal.  Thus  the  genial  and  propitious  climate  of  the  isothermal  tem- 
perate zone  extends  uj)  and  down  the  summit  of  the  Plateau,  and  is  felt 
to  both  extremities ! 

The  soils  of  the  Plateau  are  of  the  highest  order  of  fertility,  alike  upon 
the  mountains,  the  valleys,  and  the  mesas  or  extensive  plains.  The  dry 
and  serene  atmosphere  converts  the  grasses  into  hay,  and,  preserving  them 
without  decay,  perpetuates  the  food  of  grazing  animals  around  the  year. 
This  gives  to  pastoral  agriculture  an  infinite  capacity  for  production  and 
superlative  excellence.  Meat  food,  leather,  wool,  fowls,  fish,  and  dairy 
food  are  of  spontaneous  production. 

The  soils,  accumulated  from  the  attrition  and  decay  of  lava  and  of 
carboniferous  and  sulpluirous  limestones,  possess  an  exuberant  fertility. 
Spots  of  arid  sands  are  few  and  insignificant ;  such  as  exist  are  from  the 
auriferous  granite,  and  contain  placers  of  gold.      These  soils,  then,  com- 


THE  PLATEAU   OF  NORTH  AMERICA.  39 

posed  of  the  essential  elements  of  fertility  and  production,  and  warmed 
by  an  unclouded  sun,  need  only  irrigation  to  ferment  their  activity.  For 
this,  nature  has  provided  in  the  configuration  of  the  surface  and  the  infinite 
abundance  of  snowy  mountains,  of  streams  and  of  rivers  descending  from 
their  glaciers  or  bursting  from  their  flanks. 

The  descent  from  the  longitudinal  crests  of  the  mountain  ranges  to  the 
lowest  levels,  is  everywhere  by  terraces  or  steppes  arranged  against  the 
mountain  mass.  Across  these  are  channeled  the  gorges  of  the  descend- 
ing waters,  coming  from  the  gradually  melting  snows  above.  To  guide 
these  waters  out  upon  these  terraces  and  distribute  them  over  the  surface, 
involves  neither  excessive  labor  nor  intelligence.  It  is  understood  and 
practiced  by  the  aboriginal  people. 

The  laborious  systems  of  culture  to  provoke  germination,  the  uncertain 
yield  common  to  our  people  of  the  maritime  region  of  timber  and  uncer- 
tain seasons,  are  here  unknown  and  unnecessary. 

A  perpetual  sun  and  systematic  irrigation  (as  in  Egypt)  dispense  with 
laborious  manual  tillage ;  the  use  of  the  plow  is  not  indispensable :  the 
waters  for  irrigation  descend  from  a  higher  level  and  are  constant.  The 
laborious  extermination  of  the  primeval  forest ;  fuel  and  refuge  from  the 
inclement  seasons  of  heat  and  cold  ;  periodical  and  uncertain  inflictions  of 
drought  and  saturation ;  dependence  upon  an  atmosphere  ever  changing 
and  forever  fickle  and  treacherous ;  none  of  these  vicissitudes  are  seen  or 
known  upon  the  Plateau. 

The  adobe  brick,  of  unburned  clay,  constructs  fences  and  houses,  inhabited 
more  for  domestic  seclusion  and  convenience  than  from  necessity. 

Upon  the  high  mountain  flanks,  within  the  influence  of  constant  snow, 
exist  abundant  forests  with  the  rank  summer  grasses  and  vegetation  ;  the 
proportion  of  these  is  ample  and  harmoniously  distributed.  The  Plateau 
presents  itself,  therefore,  prepared  and  equipped  by  nature  in  all  depart- 
ments at  every  point,  and  throughout  its  whole  length,  for  the  immediate 
entrance  and  occupation  of  organized  society,  and  the  densest  population. 
Of  this  we  have  an  absolute  illustration. 

It  is  where,  upon  the  terraces  surrounding  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  three  dec- 
ades of  years  have  developed  in  the  wilderness  a  powerful  people,  possessing 
in  practice  all  the  elements  of  mature  and  stable  society  ;  moreover,  in  the 
ease  with  which  a  numerous  army  has  transported  and  sustained  itself, 
without  disaster  or  calamity,  at  the  same  remote  destination. 

Accessibility  on  to  the  Plateau  is  wonderfully  facile  and  unobstructed 
over  a  tranquil  ocean  on  the  one  hand,  by  the  Great  Plains  on  the  other. 

Amidst  the  checkered  variety  which  distinguishes  the  surface  of  the 
Plateau,  the  most  systematic  order  is  discernible.     The  transverse  moun- 


40  THE   PLATEAU   OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 

tain  chains  are  parallel  to  one  another.  They,  as  well  as  the  great  rivers, 
have  their  courses  due  north  and  south,  and  are  longitudinal  in  direction. 

The  only  exception  is  Snake  Kiver,  and  the  Snake  River  chain  of 
mountains.  They  exhibit  a  stupendous  display  of  volcanic  convulsions, 
extending  over  the  basin  of  the  Salt  Lake.  This  is  such  as  to  excite  the 
conviction  that  in  primeval  times  the  Blue  Mountains  of  Oregon  were 
unperforated,  and  between  them  and  the  Sierra  Wasatch  flowed  a  great 
river,  discharging  into  the  maritime  basin  of  California. 

If  this  were  so,  the  harmonious  configuration  of  the  Plateau,  from  end 
to  end,  would  be  undeviating. 

The  great  mountain  chains,  six  in  number,  enumerated  as  the  Sierra  of 
Quei'Ctaro,  of  the  Rio  Florida,  the  Sierra  Mimbres,  the  Sierra  Wasatch, 
the  Snake  River  Mountains,  and  the  Olympian  chain,  all  form  continuous 
divides  across  from  one  Cordillera  to  the  other.  They  are  unperforated 
by  any  running  waters,  and  block  oif  the  area  of  the  Plateau  into  the 
seven  isolated  basins  above  named. 

Other  mountain  masses,  branching  from  these  sierras,  protrude  far  out 
into  the  basins,  are  capped  with  snow,  and  rival  them  in  bulk  and  altitude. 
Such  are  the  Sierra  La  Plata,  the  Humboldt  Mountains,  and  the  Blue 
Mountains  of  Oregon.  Spurs  and  minor  mountain  chains  appear  every- 
where. 

The  central  regions  of  the  basins  are  occupied  by  great  plains,  surround- 
ing the  sedimentary  lakes,  or  forming  the  immense  troughs  of  the  rivers; 
the  pares  are  amphitheatres  secluded  within  the  sierras,  around  the  sources 
of  the  great  rivers.  The  most  remarkable  are  the  Pare  of  San  Luis,  the 
Middle  Pare,  the  South  Pass,  and  the  Lava  Plain  of  Snake  River. 

Elsewhere  the  great  rivers  assault  the  flanks  of  the  sierras  and  gorge 
them  athwart,  traversing  them  by  profound  chasms,  and  foam  for  hun- 
dreds of  miles  between  perpendicular  walls  of  rock.  Such  caiions  are 
seen  upon  the  Rio  del  Norte,  the  Colorado,  the  Snake  River,  and  the 
Columbia,  especially  where  they  gorge  the  Cordilleras  to  reach  the  seas. 

Such  is  the  infinite  assemblage  of  mountains,  plains,  great  rivers,  in 
every  variety  and  magnitude,  that  unite  themselves  to  form  the  immense 
area  of  the  Plateau  op  America  ! 

The  features  of  its  geology  are  equally  various,  vast,  and  wonderful ; 
both  mountains  and  plains  promiscuously  appear,  of  carboniferous  and 
sulphurous  limestones,  lava,  porphyritic  granite,  columnar  basalt,  obsidian, 
sandstone,  accompanied  by  their  appropriate  contents  of  precious  and 
base  metals,  precious  stones,  coal,  marbles,  earth,  thermal  and  medicinal 
streams  and  fountains  ;  and  all  of  these  adorned  by  scenery  forever  vary- 
ing, fascinating,  and  sulilime. 


THE   PLATEAU   OF  XORTH  AMERICA.  41 

For  agriculture,  both  pastoral  ami  arable,  no  region  of  the  world  is 
more  propitious,  not  even  the  Basin  of  the  Mississippi,  which  is  by  its 
side.  One  remarkable  characteristic  pervades  all  the  rivers  :  their  waters 
are  supplied  (as  are  those  of  the  Nile)  from  the  high  mountains  whence 
they  descend.  Such  rivulets  as  abound  in  maritime  countries  are  not 
known,  but  subterranean  streams  burst  forth  and  again  disappear.  This 
systematic  feature  at  once  demonstrates  the  porous  nature  of  the  soils  and 
the  fertilizing  character  of  the  waters. 

To  revert  again  to  the  characteristic  climate  of  the  Plateau.  It  is  coii- 
tinental  as  contrasted  with  the  maritime  climates  of  regions  open  to  the 
influences  of  the  oceans  and  overflowed  by  their  clouds  and  vapors. 

The  Plateau  is  secluded  from  the  presence  of  these  clouds  and  vapors 
by  the  uninterrupted  envelope  of  the  Cordilleras,  surmounting  the  line  of 
perpetual  snow.  These  clouds  and  vapors  lodge  themselves  upon  the  sum- 
mits of  the  Cordilleras,  and  of  such  of  the  Sierras  as  have  sufficient  alti- 
tude. From  these  the  rivers  are  fed  and  descend  to  traverse  the  lower 
altitudes,  and  upon  their  summits  are  observable  the  atmospheric  changes 
of  maritime  countries. 

Out  upon  the  Plateau  these  changes  do  not  reach.  Here  the  constant 
alternations  arising  from  rain-clouds  are  not  felt.  The  atmosphere  has  a 
perpetual  vernal  temperature,  unvarying,  rainless,  transparent,  splendid, 
and  serene. 

It  is  along  the  axis  of  the  isothermal  temperate  zone  of  the  northern 
hemisphere  that  revealed  civilization  makes  the  circuit  of  the  globe. 
Here,  the  continents  expand  ;  the  oceans  contract ;  this  zone  contains  the 
zodiac  of  empires  :  along  its  axis,  at  distances  scarcely  varying  from  one 
hundred  leagues,  appear  the  great  cities  of  the  world,  from  Pekin,  in 
China,  to  St.  Louis,  in  America. 

During  antiquity  this  zodiac  was  narrow  ;  it  never  expanded  beyond 
the  North  African  shore,  nor  beyond  the  Pontic  Sea,  the  Danube,  and 
the  Rhine.  Along  this  narrow  belt,  civilization  planted  its  system  from 
Oriental  Asia  to  the  western  extremity  of  Europe,  with  a  more  or  less 
perfect  development.  Modern  times  have  recently  seen  it  widen,  to  embrace, 
with  an  imperfect  fire,  the  region  of  the  Baltic  Sea. 

In  America,  it  starts  with  the  broad  front  from  Cuba  to  Hudson's 
Bay.  As  in  all  previous  time,  it  advances  along  a  line  central  between 
these  extremes,  in  the  densest  form  and  with  the  greatest  celerity.  Here 
are  the  chief  cities  of  intelligence  and  power,  and  the  greatest  intensity 
of  energy  and  of  progress. 

In  1820,  this  middle  column  of  the  centre  had  reached  the  western 
frontier  of  Missouri,  and   opened  trails  along  to  the    Pacific  Sea ;    the 


42  THE  PLATEAU   OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 

flanks  were  then  behind,  in  New  York,  Lower  Canada,  and  in  Georgia. 
In  the  overwhelming  revulsion  of  all  previous  political  precedents,  -which 
pervaded  our  Federal  councils  from  1816  to  1828,  central  progress  was 
forcibly  interdicted.  Abruptly  stopped  by  an  Indian  barrier  and  Draconic 
code,  and  forced  to  recoil  for  forty  years,  the  flanks  have  come  up  to  an 
even  front  upon  the  right  and  upon  the  left. 

Science  has  recently  very  perfectly  established,  by  observation,  this  axis 
of  the  isothermal  temperate  zone.  It  reveals  to  the  world  this  shining 
fact,  that  along  it  civilization  has  traveled,  as  by  an  inevitable  instinct  of 
nature,  since  creation's  dawn.  From  this  line  has  radiated  intelligence  of 
mind  to  the  north  and  to  the  south,  and  toicards  it  all  people  have  strug- 
gled to  converge.  Thus,  in  harmony  with  the  supreme  order  of  nature, 
is  the  mind  of  man  instinctively  adjusted  to  the  revolutions  of  the  sun 
and  tempered  by  his  heat. 

Behold,  then,  in  the  geographical  position  and  features  of  the  Plateau 
of  America^  a  crowning  mercy  and  a  miraculous  light  displayed  by  Grod 
in  our  front,  to  illuminate  for  us  the  safe  line  of  march  and  the  whole  area 
of  expanding  empire ! 

The  central  column  of  progress  has  already  ascended  on  to  the  Plateau  by 
the  entrance  of  the  South  Pass,  and  established  itself  on  the  fertile  terraces 
that  surround  the  Great  Salt  Lake  ;  it  is  established  in  New  Mexico,  upon 
the  Upper  Del  Norte ;  it  prepares  to  enter  by  the  passes  of  Pike's  Peak 
and  the  Arkansas  into  the  delicious  pares  that  surround  the  gold  region 
of  the  San  Juan  ;  it  is  upon  the  Columbia  and  Frazer  Rivers  ;  it  has  also 
passed  over  the  Cordillera  of  the  Andes,  and  it  presents  itself  fronting  to 
the  east  and  entering  from  California. 

Such  is  the  Plateau  of  America^  transcendent  in  po.sition,  immense  in 
area,  superlative  in  climate,  fertility,  and  variety  of  configuration. 

Here  are  blended  all  the  elements  which  distinguish  the  other  plateaux 
of  the  world.  Its  longitudinal  form  ;  the  rainless  character  and  perennial 
brilliancy  of  atmosphere  ;  its  perpetual  vernal  temperature ;  its  alternate 
basins,  pares,  and  snowy  sierras ;  its  great  rivers ;  its  indefinite  and  pro- 
pitious capacity  to  produce  and  to  sustain  pojjulation  ;  its  gold,  metals, 
and  gems ;  finally,  its  dominant  position,  beetling  over  the  Asiatic  ocean 
on  the  one  hand,  over  the  Calcareous  Plains  on  the  other  hand,  continu- 
ously from  the  Polar  Sea  to  the  equatorial  belt.  These  all  arise  succes- 
sively and  together  to  announce  to  the  American  people  their  accession  to 
the  most  attractive,  the  most  wonderful,  and  the  most  powerful  department 
of  their  continent,  of  their  country,  and  of  the  whole  area  of  the  globe. 

But  the  Plateau  has  the  prestige  of  anti(juity  to  commend  it  to  favor. 
It  was  here  that  Cortez  and  the  conquerors  found  the  gorgeous  empire  of 


THE  PLATEAU   OF  NORTH  AMERICA.  43 

the  Montezumas  !  a  polished  people,  highly  cultivated,  numbering  many 
millions,  and  martyrs  to  their  heroic  devotion  to  the  arts  of  peace !  The 
same  marked  characteristics  still  show  themselves  undiminished  in  the 
existing  aboriginal  people,  thinly  scattered  to  the  extreme  north ;  curious, 
intelligent,  and  credulous,  heroic  and  timid,  vibrating  quickly  from  super- 
stitious veneration  to  despair. 

They  invite  and  receive  the  white  man  as  a  new  divinity,  and  then 
recoil,  to  shun  him  with  hate  implacable  till  death. 

This  is  my  understanding  of  the  Plateau  of  Anienca,  condensed  to  a 
general  but  a  compact  view.  At  my  iSrst  entrance  upon  it  in  1843,  my 
impressions  were  far  otherwise.  Everywhere  appeared  novel  phenomena ; 
nature  wore  an  impenetrable  complexity  of  features  alternately  fantastic, 
sublime,  bizarre,  and  incomprehensible. 

Time,  reiterated  exploration,  study,  and  meditation,  have  revealed  it  to 
me  as  it  is, — in  architecture  transcendent,  in  anatomy  symmetrical  and  con- 
sistent in  every  detail.  It  is  necessary  to  ponder  long  before  we  may  pene- 
trate the  deep  designs  of  Providence,  or  be  permitted  to  comprehend  the 
austere  and  perfect  order  with  which  nature  is  everywhere  replete. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE   SIERRA   SAN   JUAN. 

To  command  the  gold  and  silver  production  of  the  world,  and  combine 
this  with  an  intelligent  policy,  is  to  rule  the  world.  The  present  ability 
of  the  American  people  to  do  this,  will  become  manifest  so  soon  as  the 
geography  of  the  North  American  continent  shall  become  correctly  under- 
stood by  them,  and  its  economical  development  made  a  systematic  policy. 
A  few  standard  facts  in  physical  geography  and  geology  being  currently 
grafted  in  to  gniide  the  popular  mind,  the  ease  with  which  the  people  of 
America  will  rise  to  the  pinnacle  of  power  and  empire,  and  the  necessity 
incumbent  upon  them  to  do  so,  become  both  simple  and  luminous  of 
comprehension. 

I  have  in  a  former  chapter  defined  to  itself  the  "  Great  Plateau  of  the 
Table  Lands,"  and  enumerated  the  primary  mountain  chains,  the  rivers, 
and  the  elevated  basins  (seven  in  number)  which  checker  its  immense  area. 
This  whole  area,  together  with  the  great  flanking  Cordilleras,  is  of  the 
primevgj,  auriferous  formation.  Although  immense  sandstone  and  cal- 
careous formations  are  frequent,  and  elsewhere  igneous  rocks  have  over- 
flowed thousands  of  square  miles,  these  overlay  a  uniform  pediment  of 
porphyritic  granite,  as  uniformly  yielding  gold. 

The  primeval  gold-bearing  formation,  therefore,  very  equally  divides  the 
area  of  the  continent,  half  and  half,  with  the  calcareous  formation,  which 
latter  abounds  with  the  base  metals.  Thus,  within  the  present  territories 
of  the  American  people,  the  precious  stones  and  precious  metals,  platinum, 
gold,  silver,  quicksilver,  exist  in  the  as  yet  partially  developed  half,  with 
the  same  abundance  and  universality  of  distribution  as  do  the  base  metals, 
mineral  fuel,  and  calcareous  rocks,  within  the  States. 

Investigation  within  "  the  great  calcareons  plain^^  has  so  far  progressed, 
that  we  trace  along  its  diagonal  axis  a  metalliferous  band  traversing  con- 
tinuously from  the  neighborhood  of  Mier.  on  the  Kio  Bravo  del  Norte,  to 
the  junction  of  Coppermine  River  with  the  Arctic  Sea. 

This  band,  resembling  a  sword-belt  suspended  from  the  shoulder  and 
knotted  upon  the  hip,  traverses  Texas  in  a  direction  nortli-northciist  ; 
crosses  Arkansas  and  Southern  Missouri  diagdiially  ;  Nortlicin  llliiidis, 
44 


THE  SIERRA   SAN  JUAN.  45 

Wisconsin,  and  Minnesota,  and,  brushing  the  extreme  shores  of  Lake 
Superior  and  Hudson's  Bay,  sinks  into  the  Arctic  Sea  near  the  Magnetic 
Pole. 

Everywhere  within  this  baud  the  calcareous  rocks  and  soils  are  penne- 
ated  with  veins  and  native  masses  of  the  base  metals,  existing  in  a  pleni- 
tude and  purity  sufficient  to  supply  the  world  forever.  What  is  seen  and 
known  upon  the  surface,  indicates  a  systematic  order  throughout  in  the 
relative  positions  of  the  different  metals  and  their  accompanying  rocks  and 
earths,  as  also  in  the  localities  where  each  exists  in  excess  and  may  be 
said  to  culminate. 

Thus  in  the  State  of  Missouri  iron  appears  protruding  above  the  general 
level,  over  an  immense  area,  attracting  exclusive  attention  and  the  appella- 
tion of  Iron  Mountains,  by  reason  of  the  immense  formation  of  this  metal, 
which  displays  itself  for  many  hundred  square  miles  above  and  below  the 
surface,  in  inass  and  in  position.  Copper  may  likewise  be  said  to  culmi- 
nate, where  it  displays  itself  around  the  extreme  waters  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence, in  mass  and  in  position.  Thus  likewise  of  lead,  where  it  appears 
in  indefinite  abundance  by  itself,  in  Wisconsin,  Missouri,  and  Arkansas. 

The  existence  of  the  base  metals  of  native  purity  in  mass  and  inposition, 
on  an  immense  scale  and  within  the  calcareous  formation  of  the  basins  of 
the  Mississippi  and  St.  Lawrence,  is  now  become  established.  The  ques- 
tion arises,  therefore,  whether  thei-e  exists  within  the  primeval  formation 
any  parallel  phenomenon,  or  any  possibility  of  the  existence,  accessible  to 
human  research,  of  the  precious  stones,  of  gold,  silver,  and  the  kindred 
precious  metals,  in  rnass  and  in  position. 

The  possibility,  and,  even  more,  the  prohahility  of  such  a  development 
resulting  from  persevering  exploration  among  the  sierras  of  the  Plateau 
of  the  Table  Lands,  becomes  distinct  as  their  geological  configuration  is 
revealed. 

We  have  seen,  in  a  former  chapter,  that  the  Cordillera  of  the  Sierra 
Madre  presents  within  our  territory  two  remarkable  focal  culminations, — 
the  one  grouped  around  the  Wind  River  Mountain,  the  other  surrounding 
Pike's  Peak.  These  are  about  four  hundred  miles  apart ;  they  are  con- 
nected by  the  continuous  chain  of  the  Cordillera,  as  by  a  curtain. 

Either  one,  contemplated  by  itself,  fills  the  same  significant  place  upon 
our  continent,  as  does  the  Alpine  group  surrounded  by  the  kingdoms  of 
Europe,  in  the  topography  of  that  continent.  A  parallel  altitude,  grander 
bulk,  larger  rivers,  the  sublimest  scenery,  a  rainless  atmosphere,  and  a 
foundation  of  broader  and  more  solid  dimensions,  distinguish  our  continent. 

To  all  who  ascend  the  great  plains  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  39th 
degree  of  latitude,  the  snow-crested  mass  of  Pike's  Peak,  15,000  feet  in 


46  THE  SIEBRA    SAN  JUAN. 

altitude,  and  seen  at  a  distance  of  100  miles  from  its  base,  is  a  prominent 
object.  This  peak  beetles  over  the  plains,  protruding  out  as  a  promontory 
from  the  Cordillera,  with  which  it  is  engrafted  by  an  elevated  ridge. 

From  the  northern  flank  of  this  ridge  descend  the  waters  of  the  South 
Platte,  which,  first  forming  the  Pare  of  the  Bayou  Salado,  flow  out  into 
the  plains  to  the  northeast ;  from  the  southern  flank  descends  the  Arkan- 
sas, which  defiles  by  a  canon  and  issues  forth  into  the  plains  towards  the 
southeast.  The  Cordillera,  from  whose  eastern  flanks  both  of  these  rivers 
descend,  curving  towards  the  east,  divides  asunder  the  waters  of  the  two 
great  rivers,  the  Arkansas  and  the  Rio  Bravo  del  Norte.  From  the  west- 
ern bank  of  the  Cordillera,  opposite  to  Pike's  Peak,  protrudes  similarly 
an  immense  mountain  promontory  toward  the  south  ;  this  is  the  Sierra 
San  Juan,  the  local  name  given  to  the  northern  culmination  of  the  Sierra 
Mimbres. 

The  Sierra  Mimbres,  departing  from  the  Cordillera  under  the  39th 
degree  of  latitude,  traverses  diagonally  athwait  the  Table  Lands,  having  a 
due  southern  course.  It  joins  the  western  Cordillera  in  the  Mexican  State 
of  Durango,  in  latitude  23°  30'.  Its  course  coincides  with  the  109th 
meridian.  It  is  1200  miles  in  length.  It  is  a  continuous  mountain  mass, 
dividing  the  Rio  Bravo  del  Norte  from  the  great  Rio  Colorado.  The 
immense  basins  of  these  rivers  rest  against  it  as  a  backbone. 

The  Sierra  Mimbres  is  a  mountain  chain  of  the  first  order  in  length, 
massiveness,  and  altitude.  It  is  entirely  within  the  area  of  the  Plateau  of 
the  Table  Lands.  It  abounds  in  volcanic  phenomena  and  pedrigals  of 
lava.  Its  eastern  bank  is  scored  by  caiions  descending  to  the  Del  Norte ; 
its  western  flank,  by  the  affluents  of  the  Colorado.  The  variety  and  gran- 
deur of  its  geological  features  and  metalliferous  qualities  surpass  all  other 
mountains.     It  produces  the  precious  stones. 

Within  the  States  of  Chihuahua  and  Durango  its  flanks  are  mined  for 
silver,  and  contain  twenty-one  known  deposits  of  that  metal,  which  for 
three  centuries  have  supplied  the  silver  and  silver  coin  to  the  world.  But 
the  labors  of  the  Spaniards  have  not  penetrated  beyond  the  Gila  River. 
It  is  the  portion  north  of  this  river  and  within  our  territories  which  is 
most  interesting. 

Throughout  the  whole  system  of  the  Andes,  it  is  upon  the  plateaux 
and  high  mountain  flanks  that  mining  is  profitably  pursued.  Such  is  the 
fact  in  Chili,  Peru,  Brazil,  and  Mexico.  It  is  upon  the  Plateau  of  the 
Table  Lands  within  our  territories ,  that  the  metallic  resources  chiefly 
abound. 

The  whole  system,  then,  of  primeval  mountains,  occupying  the  western 
half  of  the  New  "World,  is  uniformly  auriferous.    It  is  where  the  mountain 


THE  SIERRA   SAX  JUAN.  4*1 

summit  spreads  out  to  embrace  the  prodigious  expanse  of  the  three  con- 
tiguous mountain  basins  of  the  Del  Norte,  Colorado,  and  Salt  Lake,  that 
the  internal  volcanic  powers  of  the  globe  exhibit  their  effects  upon  the 
most  stupendous  scale. 

From  this  pediment,  having  an  altitude  of  7000  feet,  rise  the  two  bisect- 
ing mountain  chains  of  the  plateau,  the  Sierra  Mimbres  and  the  Sierra 
Wasatch,  by  which  it  is  subdivided  into  these  three  specified  elevated 
basins.  This  immense  expanse  of  continent,  presenting  a  uniform  mass 
of  the  elevated  auriferous  rocks,  places  the  equally  grand  abundance  of 
the  precious  metals  beyond  conjecture  and  above  doubt. 

But  the  Rio  Colorado  gathers  into  its  one  channel  the  large  rivers 
within  its  basin,  namely,  the  Rio  Verde,  the  Rio  Grande  of  the  West,  the 
Eagle,  Dolores,  and  San  Juan  Rivers.  It  launches  its  whole  force  against 
the  interior  flank  of  the  western  Cordillera,  perforates  this  Cordillera  by  a 
canon,  tunnelled  diagonally  for  557  miles  through  the  very  roots  of  the 
mountain  mass,  and  reaches  the  ocean  at  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  California. 

It  is  this  solitary  fact  in  physical  geography,  new  to  human  research,  and 
of  transcendent  interest,  that  here  arrests  and  fixes  the  attention  of  every 
mind.  The  dorsal  mass  of  the  Andes,  thus  perforated  through  from  base 
to  base,  and  athwart  its  course,  by  a  river  of  the  first  magnitude,  is  formed, 
to  its  snowy  summit,  of  the  upheaved  auriferous  and  igneous  rocks  ! 

Nowhere  else  throughout  the  globe  has  nature  waged  so  stern  a  conflict, 
nor  are  similar  phenomena  elsewhere  seen.  Upon  the  other  continents, 
great  rivers  are  seen  descending  from  the  flanks  of  primeval  mountains, 
and  gorging  their  outflanking  spurs ;  here  only  is  this  universal  law  of 
nature  defied,  and  the  arcana  of  the  inner  world  revealed,  surrounded  by 
details  of  the  austerest  sublimity. 

Such  is  one  of  the  stupendous  novelties  of  our  own  mountain  forma- 
tion, which  arrests  the  attention  and  summons  the  enthusiasm  of  science 
and  the  energetic  ambition  of  our  people.  Nature  here  abounds  in  a 
vast  variety  of  formations,  each  upon  the  same  miraculous  scale,  and  all 
sublime. 

Volcanoes,  whose  flames  and  eruptions  appear  to  have  ceased  but  yes- 
terday ;  immense  plains  of  selemte,  fringed  with  fantastic  mountains, 
called  cristones  (pendent  cockscombs)  ;  mesas,  surmounted  by  prairie 
plains  of  wonderful  fertility ;  vast  regions  of  forest  upon  the  irrigated 
mountain  flanks ;  crests  of  perennial  snows ;  pares  of  secluded  and 
romantic  beauty,  having  a  perpetual  verdure,  and  the  temperature  of  per- 
petual spring;  canons,  incaged  by  perpendicular  mountain  walls  of  roseate 
sandstone,  wrought  by  corrosion  into  every  form  of  sculpture ;  mountains 
permeated  with  broad  veins  of  gold  and  silver ;  others  having  emeralds 


48  THE   SfEliliA    SAX  JUAN. 

and  the  ruby ;  quicksilver  is  known  to  gush  forth  and  deposit  its  globules 
in  the  rough  meadows,  called  "  siennekas." 

Thermal  streams  of  all  varieties  of  sanatory  waters  burst,  as  subterra- 
nean rivers,  from  beneath  the  overhanging  peaks  and  mesas;  mountains 
of  porphyry  and  of  rock  salt  are  numerous ;  vast  mountain  chains  of  car- 
boniferous limestone,  changing  through  all  varieties  of  the  richest  marbles  ; 
iron  is  found  in  mountain  masses;  copper  is  scarcely  less  abundant. 

Petrifactions,  obsidian,  carnelians,  agates,  and  chalcedony  pave  immense 
regions.  Fuel  of  coal  develops  itself  in  beds  of  unrivalled  extent,  depth, 
and  compactness  ;  caves  sparkling  with  transparent  frescoes  of  crystallized 
selenite. 

An  abundant  flora  of  the  most  delicate  forms,  colors,  and  fragrance ;  a 
perennial  pasturage,  overrunning  the  mountain  flanks  and  summits,  on 
which  millions  of  aboriginal  cattle  subsist  round  the  year,  as  fish  within 
the  sea ;  a  fat  fertility  in  the  soil,  at  once  uniform  and  universal ;  rivers, 
streams,  and  fountains,  absolutely  infinite  in  number  and  of  miraculous 
convenience  and  distribution. 

Over  all  this  nether  world,  so  checkered  with  a  gorgeous  variety  of 
forms  and  productions,  both  upon  the  surface  and  beneath,  floats  the  aerial 
atmosphere,  shining  with  a  perpetual  splendor  unknown  in  regions  of  less 
altitude  and  less  remoteness  from  the  sea.  Dry,  tonic,  and  exhilarating 
to  the  taste,  infused  with  the  direct  solar  warmth,  filtered  through  the 
ether  that  surmounts  the  atmospheric  vapors,  the  embalming  atmosphere 
ti'ts  all  nature  with  a  silvery  splendor,  constantly  shining,  and  constantly 
st  ene. 

The  nights  have  an  opposite,  penetrating  coolness  when  the  solar  rays 
are  withdrawn  and  his  direct  beams  are  quenched  ;  the  canopy  of  resplen- 
dent stars  has  a  parallel  sublimity  with  the  day ;  the  transparency  of  the 
atmosphere  and  its  serenity  are  the  same. 

Electric  storms,  short  in  duration  and  at  long  intervals,  periodically 
renew  the  irrigating  snows  upon  the  mountains,  refresh  the  air,  temper  its 
dryness,  and  restore  the  rivers. 

Why  these  Lasins  and  sierras  of  the  Plateau  should  be  especially  metal- 
liferous, becomes  evident  by  reference  to  a  few  radical  principles  of  geo- 
logical research.  If  quicksilver,  water,  oil,  and  alcohol  be  poured  into  a 
hollow  pillar  of  glass,  these  liquids  will  subside,  according  to  their  specific 
gravities,  into  layers  in  the  above  order.  If  gold,  iron,  wood,  and  feathers 
be  thrown  in,  they  will  similarly  sink,  the  gold  to  the  bottom,  the  iron  to 
the  quicksilver,  the  wood  to  the  water,  the  feathers  to  the  oil. 

If  this  column  becomes  solid  by  congelation,  the  same  arrangement  will 
remain,  the  gold  being  sedimentary  to  all,  the  iron  beneath  the  stratum 


THt:  SIERRA    SAN  JUAN.  49 

of  frozen  water,  the  wood  beneath  the  oil.  Everybody  is  familiar  with 
the  manufacture  of  shot ;  each  globule  of  liquid  lead  precipitated  through 
the  air  is  formed,  by  gravity,  into  a  sphere. 

The  globe  of  the  earth,  8000  miles  in  diameter,  is  similarly  formed,  the 
congealing  substances  arranging  themselves,  as  the  shells  of  an  onion,  from 
the  centre  outward,  according  to  their  several  specific  gravities. 

I  have  often  boiled  rice  in  an  open  camp-kettle,  when  traversing  the 
mountains  and  my  daily  march  was  done ;  the  rice  finally  subsides  in 
mass  to  the  bottom,  but  the  water  remains  of  a  milky  whiteness.  This 
whiteness  is  caused  by  minute,  buoyant  particles  of  rice,  of  altered  specific 
gravity,  suspended  throughout  the  water ;  congelation  into  ice  fixes  in 
solid  form  both  the  mass  beneath  and  the  suspended  particles. 

This  homespun  illustration  makes  clear  the  cause  of  the  diffusion  of 
grain-gold  throughout  the  auriferous  rocks.  To  be  found  in  mass  and  in 
position,  it  must  be  sought  sedimentary,  beneath  these  rocks.  All  that 
we  have  as  yet  found  is  granular,  in  scales  or  minute  lumps,  set  free  from 
the  upper  rocks  by  disintegration  or  corrosion,  and  descending  the  moun- 
tain flanks  with  the  sands  abraded  by  the  torrents. 

But  we  have  seen  that  the  Cordilleras  and  the  Sierras  of  the  Plateau 
are  formed  of  the  auriferous  rocks  broken  from  their  horizontal  beds  and 
the  edges  vertically  upheaved  some  two  or  three  miles  in  altitude ;  more- 
over, the  Cordillera  of  the  Andes  is  gorged  athwart  its  roots  by  the  cafion 
of  the  Kio  Colorado.  Is  it  not,  then,  possible — even  probable — that 
sufficient  exploration  may  here  reveal  to  the  miner  the  precious  metals 
in  mass  and  in  position  ? 

The  scientific  writers  of  our  country  adhere  with  unanimity  to  the  dog- 
matic location  somewhei'e  of  "  a  great  North  American  desert.''  Trav- 
ellers, under  their  promptings,  especially  search  for  it.  It  has  been  located 
seriatim  in  advance  of  the  settlements,  in  Kentucky,  in  the  Northwest, 
in  Missouri,  upon  the  Plains,  in  California.  No  explorer  or  witness  who 
has  failed  to  find  a  desert  is  allowed  credence  or  fame. 

Yet  there  is  none,  either  in  North  or  South  America ;  nor  is  the  exist- 
ence of  one  possible.  On  the  contrary,  the  least  fertile  portion  of  our  con- 
tinent is  the  silicious  maritime  slope  of  the  Atlantic  States,  whose  climate 
is  also  the  most  inhospitable.  Yet  here  is  no  desert,  and  none  anywhere 
else  exists.  This  dogmatic  mirage  has  lately  receded  from  the  basin  of 
the  Salt  Lake ;  it  is  about  to  be  expelled  from  its  last  resting-place,  the 
basin  of  the  Colorado. 

The  anatomy  of  a  dwarf  or  an  infant  is  identical  with  the  anatomy  of  a 
giant.  The  details  and  relative  proportions  are  the  same.  Habituated  to 
a  common  medium  standard,    it  is  the  size  which  is  marvellous  to  us. 

4 


50  THE  SIERRA    SAN  JUAN. 

Our  senses  are  bewildered  by  the  novelty ;  our  judgments  wander — ^but 
the  object  seen  is  a  reality. 

To  antiquity — even  to  the  modern  day  of  Columbus — the  Atlantic 
Ocean  was  a  mysterious  abyss,  an  impenetrable  Tartarus.  By  degrees  the 
field  of  the  eye  expands,  the  mind  dilates,  fact  by  fact  is  surmounted,  as 
an  acclivity  is  made  easy  by  a  stairway.  The  mirage  is  dissolved,  the 
higher  standard  is  reached,  grows  familiar,  is  approved,  and  is  firmly 
embraced. 

It  ^s  to  European  minds  that  we  owe  the  as  yet  elementary  sciences  of 
physical  geography  and  geology.  The  founders  of  these  sciences  have 
reared  them  by  hiving  the  slowly-developed  details  of  nature,  collected  by 
exhausting  patience  within  the  small  basins  surrounding  the  cities  of  their 
residences. 

Thus,  within  the  small  basins  of  the  Thames,  the  Seine,  the  Arno ; 
upon  the  flanks  of  the  Alps,  the  Apennines ;  in  Calabria,  and  around 
Fingal's  Cave,  have  heretofore  been  found  the  most  popular  illustrations 
to  nurse  the  infancy  of  these  sciences. 

More  than  sixty  years  of  intense  meditation  has  inspired  the  cosmo- 
politan genius  of  Humboldt  to  scan  the  terrestrial  globe  with  an  expanded 
vision.  He  only  has  spoken  worthily  of  America  to  her  own  people.  In 
him  we  recognize  the  intrepid  pioneer  who  invites  us  to  understand  the 
gigantic  proportions  of  our  own  great  country,  its  order,  its  symmetry,  and 
its  grand  simplicity  of  configuration. 

As  Columbus  led  forth  navigation  and  commerce,  from  its  lengthened 
tutelage  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  to  expand  itself  over  all  the  oceans  and 
to  every  continental  and  every  island  shore ;  so  now,  this  venerable  pioneer 
of  physical  science  and  the  arts,  marshals  us  on  to  penetrate  the  arcana 
of  the  land,  to  fit  society  to  the  broad  foundation  of  the  continents,  and 
rear  a  comity  of  civilization  coequal  with  the  globe. 

It  is  in  Europe  that  Columbus  and  Huaiboldt  hate  had  their  nativity 
and  their  residence.  It  is  for  America  that  they  have  lived ;  to  us  they 
belong  ;  apostolic  citizens  of  our  destiny  ! 

The  area  of  the  department  of  the  Plateau  of  the  Table  Land,  embracing 
the  three  elevated  basins  of  the  Salt  Lake,  the  Colorado,  and  the  Rio  Bravo 
del  Norte,  is  equivalent  to  France,  Austria,  Switzerland,  and  Cisalpine 
Italy  combined  ;  its  rivers  are  equal  to  the  Danube,  Rhine,  Rhone,  and 
Po  ;  its  metalliferous  mountains  are  pre-eminent  in  bulk,  number,  and 
grandeur. 

In  readiness  to  receive  and  ability  to  sustain  in  perpetuity  a  dense 
population,  it  is  more  favored  than  Europe.  Fertility  of  soil  of  the  high- 
est order  is  the  dominant  and  uniform  characteristic  of  this  immense 


THE  SIERRA    SAN  JUAN.  51 

region.  The  mountains  are  rarely  abrupt  or  rugged.  They  arc  sur- 
mounted by  mesas,  descending  by  gigantic  terraces  called  mesillas.  The 
densely  crystalline  primeval  rocks  yield  but  slightly  to  atmospheric  corro- 
sion in  the  regularity  of  a  continental  climate  and  seclusion  from  the  sea. 
It  is  the  decay  of  lava,  selenite,  and  carboniferous  limestone  that  forms  the 
soil. 

The  pastoral  fertility  is  developed  by  nature,  which  sustains  its  aborigi- 
nal herds  as  fish  in  the  rivers  and  in  the  sea.  The  arable  fertility  needs 
the  care  of  man,  and  awaits  the  economical  development  of  artificial  irri- 
gation. For  the  reception  of  this  system,  the  whole  structure  and  contour 
of  the  surface  is  fitted,  and  the  natural  waters  abundant. 

Reflection  will  recall  to  memory  the  magnificent  empires  of  people, 
possessing  a  highly-advanced,  but  imperfectly-organized,  civilization, 
found  established  along  the  summit  of  this  Plateau,  conquered  by  Cortez, 
Alvarado,  and  Pizarro.  On  the  summit  of  the  Southern  Andes,  in 
Chili,  Peru,  and  around  Quito,  on  the  Northern  Andes,  in  Central 
America,  and  Mexico,  dwelt  twenty  millions  of  population  in  the  aggregate. 

Three  centuries  of  subjugation  have  dwarfed  this  aboriginal  people  to 
one-half  of  their  original  numbers,  and  radically  altered  their  religion, 
their  language,  and  traditional  manners.  They  have  touched  the  lowest 
point  of  decadence,  from  which  they  will  again  slowly  ascend. 

This  people  had  no  fixed  science  in  physics,  religion,  or  politics,  to  prop 
and  protect  their  system  from  the  shocks  of  time  ;  no  navigation,  no  prin- 
ciple of  perpetuity.  These  have  now  come  to  them  with  the  European 
column,  bringing  with  it  the  ark  of  regeneration.  The  peculiar  agricul- 
tural and  social  system  of  the  Mexicans  under  the  Montezumas,  extended 
up  the  basin  of  the  Rio  Bravo  del  Norte  to  the  base  of  the  Sierra  San 
Juan.  Our  people  are  marching  to  the  same  point  from  an  opposite  diiec- 
tion,  bringing  with  them  the  social  habits  of  the  isothermal  zone  and  a 
maritime  climate. 

I  have  spoken  of  this  remarkable  focal  culmination  of  the  Eastern  Cor- 
dillera, from  which  two  snowy  promontories  protrude,  back  to  back ;  Pike's 
Peak  to  the  northeast  beetles  over  and  subsides  into  the  Plains ;  the 
Sierra  San  Juan,  to  the  south,  beetles  over  the  Plateau,  and  subsides  into 
the  Sierra  Mimbres. 

Radiant  mountains  and  streams  diverge  from  this  point  in  every  direc- 
tion, and  form  abundant  passes,  direct  and  practicable,  to  and  fro,  between 
the  basin  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  Plateau.  The  three  remarkable  pares 
— the  Middle  Pare,  the  Bayou  Salado,  and  the  Bayou  San  Luis — all 
approach  close  together  the  dividing  crest  of  the  Eastern  Cordillera,  over 
whose  summit  they  immediately  communicate. 


52  THE  SIERRA    SAN  JUAN. 

I  know  not  how  adequately  to  delineate  this  knotted  group  of  all  the 
colossal  elements  of  nature.  To  submit  the  unembellished  facts  is  all  that 
is  necessary,  were  this  possible,  where  the  elements  in  compact  contiguity 
are  so  many,  so  varied,  and  each  of  such  colossal  grandeur.  To  exag- 
gerate is  far  from  my  intention ;  to  enumerate  the  details  of  nature,  as  I 
have  seen  them,  with  austere  simplicity,  is  my  aim. 

Behold,  then,  to  the  right,  the  Mississippi  Basin;  to  the  left,  the  Plateau 
of  the  Table  Lands  ;  beneath,  the  family  of  Pares  ;  around,  the  radiating 
backs  of  the  primeval  mountains  ;  the  primary  rivers,  starting  to  the  seas ; 
a  uniform  elevation  of  8000  feet ;  a  translucent  atmosphere,  a  thousand 
miles  removed  from  the  ocean  and  its  influences ;  a  checkered  landscape, 
in  which  no  element  of  sublimity  is  left  out ;  fertility  and  food  upon  the 
surface  ;  metals  beneath  ;  uninterrupted  facility  of  transit ! 

Behold  the  sublime  panorama  which  crowns  the  middle  region  of  our 
Union,  fans  the  fire  of  patriotism,  and  beckons  on  the  energetic  host  of 
our  people.  The  American  people  number  fifty  millions  in  strength.  Two 
millions  change  annually  their  place  of  residence.  The  oracular  instinct 
of  conquest  burns  in  every  heart ;  this  is  the  continental  mission  of  '76, 
proclaimed  from  the  traditions  of  Jamestown  and  of  Plymouth  Rock,  and 
thence  bequeathed  to  posterity  ! 

The  column  of  pioneers  (engaged  during  several  years  in  planting  the 
State  of  the  Kansas  basin)  has  passed  over  the  rim  of  the  Calcareous  Plain, 
and  debouched  upon  the  base  of  the  primeval  mountains.  Gold  has  been 
found  at  the  first  trial  and  upon  the  threshold  at  Cherry  Creek,  upon  the 
eastern  flank  of  Pike's  Peak,  and  elsewhere.  A  few  seasons  have  sufiiced  for 
them  to  ascend,  by  the  Arkansas  and  the  Bayou  Salado^  to  the  mother 
crest  of  the  Cordillera,  whence  the  basins  and  sierras  of  the  Plateau 
expand  beyond  : 

"  The  clouds  above  us  to  the  white  Alps  tend, 

And  we  must  pierce  them,  and  survey  whate'er 
May  be  permitted  :  -as  our  steps  we  bend 

To  that  most  great  and  growing  region,  where 

The  earth  to  her  embrace  com])els  the  powers  of  air." 

Let  US  here  pause  to  reflect  whether  the  traditional  history  of  our  race 
does  not,  on  its  very  front,  illustrate  what  prominence  awaits  this  longi- 
tudinal Plateau  of  our  continent,  descending  thus  by  terraces  into  the 
Mississippi  Basin  on  the  east,  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  on  the  west ! 

The  existence  of  the  empires  of  Montezuma  and  the  Incas  exhibits 
upon  these  Table  Lands  the  only  examples  where  our  aboriginal  people 
rose  above  an  absolute  barbarism  elsewhere,  upon  the  lowlands,  as  universal 
and  as  level  as  the  waters  of  the  sea. 


THE  SIERRA    SAN  JUAN.  53 

All  around  the  head  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  where  it  penetrates  the 
Asiatic  continent,  its  basin  is  encircled  by  a  plateau,  or  amphitheatre  of 
elevated  plains  extending  round  from  Suez,  continuously  through  Syria, 
Asia  Minor,  and  into  Greece.  This  descends  by  terraces  to  the  sea-shore. 
Upon  this  Plateau  have  been,  among  others,  the  cities  of  Babylon,  Pal- 
myra, and  Damascus  ;  upon  the  slopes  to  the  sea,  Alexandria,  Tyre,  Jeru- 
salem, Tarsus,  Byzantium,  and  Athens  ! 

What  cardinal  element  have  we,  in  the  immense  mental  system  of  our 
civilization,  which  has  not  come  to  us  and  with  us  from  thence?  Hence 
(from  this  Plateau  of  Syria)  have  resounded  through  all  time  and  into 
every  heart,  the  direct  oral  teachings  of  Jehovah  and  of  Jesus :  hence 
have  issued  forth  the  miraculous  alphabet  and  the  numerals  :  hence  have 
come  the  cereals  and  animals  of  our  agriculture,  wine,  and  fruits  :  hence 
our  religion,  law,  social  manners,  history,  music,  poetry,  and  arts :  from 
hence,  as  from  the  cradle  of  nativity,  have  issued  forth  for  our  inheritance, 
to  abide  with  us  forever,  "  the  unconquerable  mind  and  freedom's  holy 
flame  !" 

Everybody  is  acquainted  with  the  Gulf  Stream  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 
This  colossal  stream,  recoiling  round  the  circular  sea  of  the  tropics,  and 
receiving  the  oozy  sediment  of  the  Amazon,  the  Orinoco,  the  Magdalena, 
and  the  Mississippi,  launches  out  into  the  middle  ocean.  Its  silent  current 
rolls  the  tepid  waters  and  sandy  debris  of  two  continents  a  thousand 
leagues  along  the  bottom  of  the  ocean  :  it  banks  them  up  upon  the  margin 
of  the  Northern  Sea,  to  form  the  submerged  continent  of  Newfoundland, 
and  the  telegraphic  plateau. 

Similarly  has  flowed,  for  fifty  centuries,  along  the  isothermal  axis,  the 
human  current,  which  bears  with  it  the  immortal  fire  of  civilization 
revealed  to  man.  This  central  current  has  reached  the  Plateau  of  America, 
up  which  it  will  ascend  to  plant  the  sacred  fires  over  its  expanse  and 
shine  upon  the  world  with  renewed  efiulgence.  Such  is  the  resplendent 
era  and  the  gorgeous  promise  unveiled  to  humanity.  The  arrival  of  this 
is  noio  announced  by  the  indefinite  gold  production  and  pastoral  power  of 
the  interior,  domestic  region  of  our  continent  and  country. 


CHAPTER   V. 


THE   SOUTH   PASS   OF   AMERICA. 


From  the  previous  chapters,  it  will  be  perceived  that  one  who  travels 
from  Paris  to  Pekin,  by  the  direct  route  of  New  York,  Kansas  City,  and 
San  Francisco,  traverses  these  physical  divisions  :  1st.  The  Atlantic  Ocean. 
2d.  The  Atlantic  Maritime  Slope.  3d.  The  Alleghany  Mountains.  4th. 
The  Basin  of  the  Mississippi.  5th.  The  Cordillera  of  the  Sierra  Madre. 
6th.  The  Plateau  of  the  Table  Lands.  7th.  The  Cordillera  of  the  Snowy 
Andes.     8th.  The  Pacific  Maritime  Slope.     9th.  The  Pacific  Ocean. 

This  route  brings  into  immediate  juxtaposition,  along  the  isothermal 
axis,  the  great  permanent  reservoirs  of  human  population  and  activity — 
Weste7-n  Europe,  America,  and  Oriental  Asia. 

If  it  be  practicable  to  accommodate  all  the  international  transportation 
of  the  three  continents  by  this  route,  a  prodigious  condensation  of  economy 
in  the  interchanges  of  the  products  and  people  of  the  world  will  be  accom- 
plished at  a  blow. 

The  distance  of  transit  will  be  reduced  from  the  circumference  of  the 
globe  to  the  length  of  its  diameter — the  time  to  one-tenth.  Steam  by  sea  and 
land  will  form  an  uninterrupted  trip  by  two  ocean  ferries,  connected  by  a 
transit  railway.  Thus  will  be  solved  the  geographical  problem  which  has 
agitated  the  world  before  and  since  Columbus. 

Practical  experiment  has  long  since  exhausted  all  discussion  as  to  the 
passage  of  the  two  oceans  by  steamers,  and  of  the  American  continent  by 
railway,  so  far  as  the  Atlantic  Maritime  Slope,  the  Alleghany,  the  Basin 
of  the  Mississippi,  up  to  the  wall  of  the  Cordillera  of  the  Sierra  Madre, 
and  the  Pacific  Maritime  Slope,  are  concerned.  Serious  arguments  of  any 
difiiculties  within  these  divisions  of  the  whole  distance  have  been  long 
settled  and  have  ceased. 

All  that  remained  enigmatical  to  the  jjublic  mind,  and  unresolved,  when 
these  notes  were  first  penned,  was  the  interval  occupied  by  the  Cordillera 
of  the  Sierra  Madre,  the  Plateau  of  the  Table  Lands,  and  the  Cordillera 
of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  which  conjointly  form  the  ^^  mountain  formation  of 
North  America,"  extending  continuously  from  Tehuantepec  to  the  Arctic 
Sea. 

54 


THE  SOUTH  PASS   OF  AMEBIC  A.  55 

How  this  complicated  barrier  of  immense  mountains,  1000  miles  in 
breadth,  is  to  be  surmounted,  has  obtained  its  illustration  by  the  estab- 
lishment of"  the  Mormons  in  Utah,  and  the  military  expedition  sent  against 
them.  It  is  by  the  South  Pass,  which  is  the  gateway  of  the  American 
people  and  their  commerce  to  Asia,  as  has  been  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar 
that  of  exit  out  into  the  Atlantic,  to  the  nations  of  the  Mediterranean, 
now  and  in  all  ages  past. 

There  exists  between  the  Basins  of  the  Mediterranean  and  of  the  3Iis- 
sissippi,  a  perfect  identity  in  position,  physical  characteristics,  historical 
prestige,  and  social  concord.  A  comparison  of  the  one  with  the  other  will 
furnish  a  luminous  illustration,  to  explain  the  present  generation  of  the 
Ajnerican  people  to  itself,  and  to  guide  all  future  generations. 

The  area  in  square  miles  of  these  two  basins  is  the  same.  Four-fifths 
of  the  surface  of  the  fortner  is  occupied  by  the  salt-water  expanse  of  the 
Pontic,  Propontic,  Adriatic,  and  MediteiTanean  Seas,  into  which  flow  the 
Danube,  the  Nile,  the  Po,  and  the  Rhone,  rivers  having  narrow  valleys  and 
imperfect  navigation.  Protruding  out  between  these  seas  are  the  penin- 
sulas of  Asia  Minor,  Greece,  Italy,  Spain,  and  the  African  coast,  all  filled 
full  with  mountain  vertebrae,  rugged  and  poorly  adapted  to  agriculture. 

The  sea  surface  is  stonny  and  dangerous  to  navigation :  the  rivers  are 
short  and  deficient  in  channel :  the  shores  are  impracticable  to  land  except 
where  harbors  are  constructed ;  and  the  inhabitable  lands  arranged  in 
rugged  and  isolated  masses. 

Yet,  from  the  first  pioneer  voyage  of  Hercules  down  the  Mediterranean, 
to  the  Pillars  which  still  immortalize  his  energies,  to  the  present  age,  there 
has  existed  a  certain  imperfect  compact  in  the  political,  social,  religious, 
and  commercial  relations  of  the  people  of  the  Mediterranean. 

The  vestal  fire  of  civilization  has  never  been  entirely  quenched.  It 
has  spread  out  to  illiuninate  the  whole  area,  both  under  the  political  sys- 
tem of  the  Roman  Empire  and  the  religious  system  of  the  Roman  Church. 
It  has  overrun  the  bi'im,  and  is  inherited  by  the  modern  European  nations 
who  are  the  dispersed  progeny  of  Rome. 

The  "  Basin  of  the  Mississippi"  fills  more  perfectly  the  temperate  zone. 
The  counterpart  of  the  salt-water  surface  is  a  delicious,  undulating  plane, 
everywhere  channelled  by  rivers  navigable  to  their  very  sources :  navigation 
is  everywhere  as  safe  and  constant  as  upon  a  canal ;  the  line  of  accessible 
shore  is  in  length  absolutely  infinite ;  the  soil  is  uniformly  calcareous, 
arable,  of  inexhaustible  fertility,  and  sufficiently  irrigated  from  the  clouds  ; 
no  mountain,  no  sheet  of  water,  no  swamp  is  anywhere  found  to  break  the 
uniform  productiveness  of  this  immense  expanse ;  no  rapids  to  interrupt 
the  universal  navigation  of  the  rivers. 


56  THE  SOUTH  PASS   OF  AMERICA. 

Europe  is  bisected  by  a  broad  mountain  chain  traversing  it  continuously, 
east  and  west.,  fi-om  Gibraltar  to  Siberia,  under  the  names  of  the  Pyrenees, 
Alps,  Carpathians,  and  called  by  the  Romans  "  divortia  aquarum"  (the 
divide  of  waters).  What,  therefore,  is  outside  of  the  Basin  of  the  Medi- 
terranean is,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  inhospitable  "  Basin  of  the  Baltic," 
its  climate  and  general  features  not  unlike  Labrador. 

All  along  the  northern  front  of  the  "  Mississippi  Basin,"  expand  beyond 
an  imperceptible  barrier,  the  "  Basins  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Sas- 
katchewan," similarly  calcareous,  similarly  abounding  in  navigation,  and 
only  moderately  inferior  to  it  in  fertility,  in  geniality  of  climate,  and  in 
area. 

The  surface,  then,  of  the  European  Basin  is  salt-water  and  mountains. 
That  of  the  American  Basin  a  plain  of  calcareous,  arable  soil.  The  former 
has  a  maritime  climate,  the  latter  a  continental  climate,  superior  in  dryness 
and  salubrity.  The  former  has  a  restricted  and  dangerous,  the  latter  an 
abundant  and  safe,  navigation.  In  land-transportation  the  contrast  is  still 
more  strikingly  diverse  and  favorable  to  the  American  Basin. 

The  Basin  of  the  Mediterranean,  under  the  rule  of  the  Roman  Emperor 
Trajax,  attained  a  population  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-one  millions. 
This  was  then  chiefly  congregated  in  the  eastern  half;  it  is  now  in  the 
western  half,  in  which  direction  the  pressure  always  preponderates. 

At  present  the  Basin  of  the  Mississippi  contains  eighteen  millions  of 
inhabitants.  It  will  conveniently  sustain  eighteen  hundred  millions.  This 
is  now  an  immense  empire.  Comparisons  drawn  from  history  or  existing 
empires,  are  very  feeble  illustrations  of  what  is  to  grow  up  on  this  already 
radicated  foundation. 

All  the  features  of  nature,  all  the  principles  of  progress,  social  and 
political,  ai-e  here  original.  This  undulating  plain,  uniformly  and  uni- 
versally calcareous ;  this  circular  configuration,  running  flush  out  to  the 
repelling  lines  of  the  Arctic  and  Torrid  Zones ;  this  miraculously-bal- 
•anced  variety  of  temperature,  climate,  prairie,  forest,  land,  rivers,  rain, 
and  sunshine,  minerals  and  contiguous  expanses — now  arable  and  now 
pastoral — all  these  constitute  an  original  order  of  physical  facts,  simple 
and  symmetrical,  but  sublime. 

The  rising  of  consecutive  States  out  of  the  wilderness,  erected  by  spon- 
taneous indu.stry ;  the  unabating  deluge  of  men  daily  pouring  forth  and 
daily  jtushcd  onward  by  the  hand  of  God  ;  the  rushing  march  of  empire  ; 
the  profmuid  internal  order  and  systematic  economy  which  pervades  and 
guides  tliis  mass,  more  numerous  than  many  armies ;  the  instinct  of  dis- 
cipline and  self-government  everywhere  felt  and  always  obeyed  ;  no  cen- 
tral military  iM-  religious  power  anywhere  seen — all  these  array  themselves 


THE  SOUTH  PASS   OF  AMERICA.  57 

to  announce  the  presence  of  principles  and  power  intensely  original  and 
intensely  potential  in  social  and  political  influences. 

Memory  will  suggest  how  slow  and  narrow,  until  quite  modern  times, 
has  been  the  column  of  organized  civilization  on  the  old  continent.  The 
whole  African  coast  of  the  Mediterranean  is  socially  semi-barbarous,  and 
has  been  so  uniformly  since  the  deluge.  Upon  and  beyond  the  Danube 
its  permanence  is  quite  recent  and  its  light  still  crepuscular. 

Contrast  the  elements  of  society  and  their  history,  filling  the  face  of 
Europe  from  Gibraltar  to  Norway,  with  that  of  America  from  Cuba  to 
Hudson's  Bay,  both  fronting  to  the  west !  In  the  former  appear  distract- 
ing nationalities,  domestic  force  and  fraud,  no  systematic  union,  no  moral 
harmony,  no  uniformity  of  races,  no  intelligent  concord  in  religions.  In 
the  latter  is  a  compact  front,  where  all  these  elements  reversed  are  blended 
in  civic  concord,  fired  by  a  common  hope,  inspired  by  one  destiny,  and 
having  one  God,  one  heart,  one  aim,  and  one  supreme  ambition. 

Such  are  the  characteristics  of  the  two  basins,  contrasted  the  one  with 
the  other.  They  both  slope  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  are  face  to  face. 
In  the  mythological  history  of  Hercules  we  read  the  first  intelligent  record 
of  that  struggle  for  dominance  over  the  Mediterranean,  and  a  system  hold- 
ing its  elements  in  harmony,  which  has  been  ever  since  a  drama  of  unin- 
terrupted acts. 

In  this  drama  appear  the  tragic  sieges  of  Troy,  Tyre,  Athens,  Carthage, 
Alexandria,  Byzantium,  Rome,  Rhodes,  Gibraltar,  Malta,  and  Sebastopol; 
among  a  thousand  combats  by  sea  and  land  the  naval  victories  of  Salamis, 
Actium,  Lepanto,  Aboukir,  and  Trafalgar. 

From  history,  which  is  the  narrative  of  this  struggle  of  four  thousand 
years,  is  apparent  the  perpetual  incubation  of  military  brute  force  always 
in  the  majority ;  civic  virtue  and  municipal  independence  as  uniformly  in 
the  minority,  checkered  by  heroic  resistance  and  perpetually-recurring 
martyrdom. 

It  has  been  the  design  of  the  American  continental  republic,  from  its 
first  colonial  origin,  to  reverse  this  doom ;  to  elevate  civic  concord  to  the 
administration  of  political  power ;  to  sustain  it  there ;  to  dispense  with 
the  whole  scheme  of  military  despotism  without  respect  to  its  antiquity, 
its  arrogance,  or  the  heretofore  universal  success  of  its  subtle  union  of 
hypocrisy  and  force  ;  to  inaugurate  for  mankind  a  code  of  political  prac- 
tice, which  shall  bring  the  science  of  government  into  accord  with  the 
divine  code  of  morals  and  religion,  cradled  1873  years  ago  in  the  manger 
of  the  stable  of  Bethlehem  ! 

This  mission  of  civic  empire  has  for  its  oracular  principle  the  physical 
characteristics  and  configuration  of  our  continent,  wherein  the  Basin  of 


58  THE  SOUTH  PASS    OF  AMERICA. 

the   Mississippi    predominates    as    supremely   as    the    sun    among    the 
planets.* 

The  Basin  of  the  Mediterranean  is,  then,  a  surface  of  barren  sea,  with 
mountain  masses,  imperfectly  fitted  for  population,  protruding  above  it ; 
that  of  the  Mississippi  is  a  calcareous  ])lain  of  land,  everywhere  interlaced 
and  ramified  with  navigable  arteries.  Both  are  traversed  centrally  by  the 
zodiac  of  empires  within  which  the  current  of  civilization  has  flowed  in 
all  agesyVo/n  east  to  tcest. 

This  current,  descending  the  Mediterranean,  and  drawn  in  by  the  con- 
verging continents  of  Europe  and  Africa,  pours  forth  its  whole  concentrated 
volume  through  the  supreme  pass  known  now  and  in  all  ages  as  the 
"  Pillars  of  Hercules." 

What  is  accomplished  by  this  convergence  of  the  continents  of  the  Old 
World,  in  reducing  all  the  outlets  of  navigation,  and  consequently  of  all 
commerce,  to  the  single  Pass  of  Hercules,  is  accomplished  for  our  conti- 
nent by  the  "  Mountain  Formation."  This  is  the  South  Pass  of  North 
America,  the  exact  equivalent  single  pass,  in  our  continent  of  fajicZ-basins, 
to  the  wa^er-pass  of  Gibraltar  among  the  water-basins  of  the  Eastern 
hemisphere.  The  latitude  is  42°  24',  the  longitude  109°  26'.  This  is 
the  same  latitude  as  Boston,  Bayonne,  and  Marseilles,  in  France,  and  of 
Trieste  and  Constantinople. 

To  delineate  the  features  of  the  South  Pass,  so  that  the  topography  of 
the  plain,  the  prodigious  sierras  which  surround  it,  the  rivers  radiating 
out  of  it,  and  the  gorges  by  which  they  commence  their  gentle  declina- 
tions to  the  seas,  may  all  be  grouped  in  one  glance,  as  a  portrait  in  daguer- 
reotype, is  not  easy  to  be  done. 

The  plain  is  elevated  7500  feet  above  the  sea ;  it  is  beyond  or  west  of 
the  Cordillera ;  its  surface  of  clay  is  so  absolutely  smooth  as  to  admit 
of  uninterrupted  vision,  as  over  water ;  it  is  in  shape  a  triangle,  having 
very  acute  angles  at  the  northern  and  southern  points,  and  one  very  obtuse 
at  the  source  of  Sweetwater,  which  is  the  eastern  point. 

The  western  side,  200  miles  in  length,  corresponds  Avith  the  bed  of  the 
Rio  Verde  (Green  River),  running  directly  from  north  to  south,  to  which 
the  whole  plain  slants.  Immediately  along  its  w-estern  bank  rises  the 
Sierra  Wasatch,  forming  a  continuous  mountain  barrier  towards  the  west ; 
opposite  the  centre  of  this  hypothenuse  is  the  gorge  of  Sweetwater,  envel- 
oping the  eastern  point  of  the  triangle  ;  the  remaining  sides  extend  hence, 
the  one  to  the  northwest,  the  other  to  the  southwest. 


♦  The  North  American  Continent  is  in  form  a  sublime  amphitheatre,  being  concave 
in  configuration.     All  the  other  continenti-  are  cotivex. 


THE  SOUTH  PASS    OF  AM  E  JUG  A.  59 

Along  the  former,  in  length  109  miles,  rises  the  stupendous  mass  of 
the  Cordillera,  known  here  locally  as  the  "  Wind  River  Mountain."  Along 
the  latter  a  similar  mass  of  the  Cordillera,  but  of  inferior  altitude,  known 
locally  as  the  "  Table  Mountain." 

The  area  of  the  Plain  of  the  South  Pass  is  about  equivalent  to  that  of 
New  Jersey.  Its  surface  is  of  clay,  resembling  kaoline,  of  which  porce- 
lain is  made,  and  has  the  absolute  smoothness  of  that  material  filtered 
through  water  and  compacted  by  pressure. 

From  the  three  angles  of  its  rim  issue  the  Sweetwater,  flowing  east  into 
the  Platte  and  to  the  Atlantic ;  the  Snake  Ptiver,  flowing  northwest  to 
Walla -Walla,  and  thence  with  the  Columbia  to  the  North  Pacific ;  and 
the  Rio  Verde,  south  into  the  Bay  of  California ;  by  whose  western 
afiluent  also,  Black  Pork,  exists  the  easiest  egress  into  the  Basin  of  the 
Great  Salt  Lake. 

Most  probably  no  spot  on  the  globe  has  grouped  into  one  view  so  much 
of  intense  grandeur  in  the  variety  and  number  of  its  physical  wonders. 
From  a  single  ice-crowned  summit  of  the  Wind  River  Mountain  are  seen 
the  gorges  of  the  Missouri,  Yellowstone,  Platte,  Colorado,  and  Snake 
Rivers,  all  radiating  from  its  base,  and  each  the  equal  of  the  Danube  in 
length  and  the  volume  of  its  waters. 

Five  primary  chains  of  snowy  mountains  here  culminate  together  to 
this  central  apex,  from  which  they  radiate  out  between  the  rivers ;  the 
dorsal  mass  of  the  Cordillera  reaching  towards  the  north  to  the  Arctic  Sea, 
and  towards  the  south  to  the  Antarctic ;  the  Sierra  Wasatch,  the  Snake 
River  chain,  the  Salmon  River  Mountains,  all  crested  with  snow,  and  each 
having  an  unbroken  length  of  1000  miles. 

The  South  Pass  is  1400  miles  from  Astoria.  It  is  the  same  distance 
from  St.  Louis.  It  is,  then,  in  the  middle  region  of  the  continent.  It  is 
the  only  single  pass  through  the  "  Mountain  Formation"  from  hence  as  far 
as  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec.  From  this  comes  the  name  South  Pass, 
as  being  the  most  southern  pass  to  which  you  may  ascend  by  an  affluent 
of  the  Atlantic,  and  step  immediately  on  to  a  stream  descending  uninter- 
ruptedly out  to  the  Pacific. 

This  name  is  as  ancient  as  the  Pass  itself.  Into  it  concentrate  the  great 
trails  of  the  bufialo — geogTaphers  and  road-makers  before  the  coming  of 
man.  The  Indian,  the  Mexican,  and  the  American,  successors  to  one 
another,  have  not  deflected  from  the  instincts  of  the  buffalo,  nor  will  they, 
whilst  the  primeval  mountains  last  in  their  present  unshattered  bulk. 

This  is  the  continental  highway  of  the  people,  through  which  millions 
have  already  poured  to  and  fro  with  their  children,  their  free  principles, 
their  cattle — assembled  in  caravans,  on  foot,  and  mounted — with  wagons, 


60  THE  SOUTH  PASS   OF  AMERICA. 

hand-carts,  knapsacks,  and  bringing  with  them  their  household  gods,  and 
the  tabernacle  of  civil  and  religious  liberty. 

The  South  Pass  is  par  excellence  the  continental  pass.  The  outlet  at 
the  eastern  angle  is  known  as  the  gorge  of  the  Sweetwater  River,  which 
descends  to  the  Platte ;  that  at  the  northern  angle  as  the  gorge  of  Gros- 
ventre  River,  which  descends  to  the  Snake  River.  These  are  both  short 
and  slender  mountain  streams,  accomplishing  their  descent  in  beds  of  the 
extremest  sinuosity,  but  without  abrupt  waterfalls.  They  both  flow  from 
chasms  in  the  flanks  of  the  immense  mass  of  the  Wind  River  Mountain, 
which  here  forms  an  arc  fronting  to  the  west,  and  issue  out  upon  the 
plain. 

But  the  plain  is  traversed  by  a  gentle  divide,  parallel  with  the  mountain 
base,  and  no  more  distinguishable  than  the  bevel  given  by  engineers  to 
any  ordinary  street.  Against  this  these  two  streams  are  deflected  into 
opposite  courses,  the  former  to  burrow  its  way  around  the  arc  of  the  moun- 
tain to  the  southeast.,  the  other  towards  the  northwest. 

To  one  who  observes  this  from  the  plain,  there  is  presented  a  similar 
miraculous  configuration  of  the  land,  such  as  displays  itself  to  one  who, 
navigating  the  Propontic  Sea,  beholds  the  Dardanelles  upon  his  right 
hand  and  the  Bosphorus  on  his  left.  Moreover,  the  sky  is  without  clouds 
and  rainless^  the  atmosphere  intensely  brilliant,  temperate,  and  serene, 
encompassed  round  by  scenery  of  the  austerest  sublimity. 

But  we  have  seen  that  the  elevation  of  the  South  Pass  is  7500  feet, 
and  that  Snake  River  runs  contirmously  out  of  it  by  the  most  direct  and 
favorable  course,  of  1400  miles,  to  the  Pacific  Sea,  tunnelling  consecu- 
tively the  Blue  or  Salmon  River  range  of  mountains,  the  western  Cordil- 
lera, and  all  other  transverse  ranges  and  obstructions. 

Here  is,  then,  an  uninterrupted  water  declination  through  and  across  the 
whole  '■^  mountain  formation"  descending  by  a  plane  dipping  five  feet  to 
the  mile ! 

From  the  adjacent  eastern  rim  of  the  Plain  of  the  South  Pass  runs  out 
Sweetwater  into  the  Platte,  which,  tunnelling  consecutively  all  the  out- 
lying ranges  of  the  eastern  Cordillera,  forms  a  similar  uninterrupted  water 
declination,  in  a  very  straight  line  of  1400  miles  to  St.  Louis,  descending 
by  the  same  average  dip  oi  five  feet  per  mile. 

Everybody  is  familiar  with  the  existing  railways,  which,  radiating  from 
St.  Louis  and  pursuing  continuously  the  plains  of  the  (Jliio  and  St.  Law- 
rence, outflank  the  Alleghanies  between  Syracuse  and  Rome,  and  descend 
by  the  Hudson  River  to  New  York. 

The  .sciences  which  delineate  and  explain  to  the  human  understanding 
the  details  of  matter,  as  it  tits  itself  in  myriads  ol"  millions  of  variegated 


THE  SOUTH  PASS   OF  AMERICA.  61 

forms  to  fill  out  the  supreme  order  of  the  universe,  develop  nothing  so 
interesting  to  the  heart  of  civilized  man  as  this  single  sublime  fact  of 
physical  geography  in  the  supreme  engineering  of  the  Creator. 

This  line  of  gently-undulating  river-grades  girdles  the  middle  zone  of 
our  Union  from  sea  to  sea,  in  one  smooth,  continuous  and  unbroken  cord, 
3G00  miles  in  length.  It  fits  the  isothermal  axis  of  the  temperate  climates, 
crossing  one  river  only  at  St.  Louis,  and  outflanking  all  the  mountains. 
It  presents  to  us  the  counterpart  of  that  water-line  of  the  Old  World,  com- 
mencing at  the  extremity  of  the  Euxine,  passing  down  the  Mediterranean, 
and  debouching  out  into  the  ocean. 

From  the  South  Pass  to  Mexico  the  primary  mountain  chains  spread 
out.  They,  together  with  the  great  rivers  which  divide  them,  are  longi- 
tudinal, parallel,  and  unperforated.  The  rivers  grow  deeper  as  they 
approach  the  sea,  increasing  the  altitude  and  abruptness  of  the  mountain 
flanks,  which  overlap  one  another,  and  increase  and  complicate  the  mural 
barriers. 

Nowhere,  within  this  interval,  are  the  mountains  reduced  to  a  single 
dividing  barrier,  nor  are  there  presented  anywhere  the  essentials  of  a  single 
pass.  Nowhere  is  to  be  found  a  sufficient  depression  in  the  mountain 
crest,  and  a  continuous  gradation  from  the  summit-crest,  prolonged  to  the 
east  and  to  the  west,  down  both  declinations  to  the  seas. 

The  South  Pass  is  elevated  75U0  feet  above  the  seas,  from  which  it  is 
some  1500  miles  remote.  It  has,  then,  a  continental  climate,  whose 
atmosphere  is  tempered  by  the  altitude  and  by  the  absence  of  moisture. 
Hence  an  intense  serenity  is  the  prominent  feature,  perpetual  sunshine,  a 
tonic  and  salubrious  air,  a  vernal  temperature. 

Along  the  continental  line  the  changes  from  the  continental  to  the  mari- 
time climate,  and  vice  versa,  graduate  themselves  with  the  same  delicate 
scale  as  the  surface  slopes.  Uniformity  of  climate,  from  sea  to  sea,  is  then 
so  nearly  approached,  that  it  actually  exists  all  along  this  line  in  absolute 
plenitude. 

Human  society,  in  the  current  course  of  ages,  vibrates  to  and  fro  through 
periods  of  barbarism.  God  and  Nature  endure  constantly  eternal  and  per- 
fect. Manners,  religions,  policies,  change  and  become  barbarous  or  the 
opposite,  as  they  harmonize  with  God  and  Nature.  Science  develops  how 
this  harmony  may  be  known  and  practised.  As  we  recede  from  it,  tur- 
bulent force  dominates,  numbers  are  dwarfed,  civilization  withers,  liberty 
is  lost ;  as  we  approach  it,  civilization  expands,  charity  smiles,  order  and 
empire  rise. 

Nature  here  for  us,  upon  our  Continent,  amidst  a  stupendous  vastness 
of  configuration,  preserves  an  austere  simplicity,  which  guides  the  instinct- 


^^2  THE   SOUTH   PASS    OF  AMEBIC  A. 

ive  glance  of  empire  with  unerring  certainty.  Here  is  that  continental 
line,  the  discovery  of  which  niaiikind  has  awaited  with  the  keenest 
curiosity. 

In  the  ripeness  of  time  the  hope  of  humanity  is  realized  ;  it  is  by  this 
that  our  people  are  about  to  construct  the  Continental  Raihray.  Like  the 
refulgent  girdle  with  which  antiquity  bound,  in  one  chorus,  the  sister- 
hood of  the  Graces,  we  will  behold  united,  by  one  zone,  the  three  sister 
Continents,  Europe,  America,  and  Asia. 

Here,  through  the  heart  of  our  territory,  our  population,  our  States,  our 
cities,  our  farms  and  habitations,  will  traverse  the  broad  current  of  com- 
merce, where  passengers  and  cargoes  may  at  any  time  or  place  embark 
upon  or  leave  the  vehicles  of  transportation. 

Down  with  the  parricidal  treason  which  will  banish  it  from  the  land^ 
from  among  thepeople,  to  force  it  into  the  barren  ocean,  outside  of  society, 
through  foreign  nations,  into  the  torrid  heats,  along  solitary  circuitous 
routes,  imprisoned  for  months  in  great  ships  ! 

This  Continental  Railway  is  an  essential  domestic  institution,  more 
powerful  and  more  permanent  than  law,  or  popular  consent,  or  political 
constitutions,  to  thoroughly  complete  the  great  system  of  fluvial  arteries 
which  fraternize  us  into  one  people  ;  to  bind  the  tico  sea-hoards  to  this  one 
continental  Union,  like  ears  to  the  human  head ;  to  radicate  the  founda- 
tions of  the  Union  so  broad  and  deep,  and  establish  its  structure  so  solid, 
that  no  possible  force  or  stratagem  can  shake  its  permanence ;  to  secure 
such  scope  and  space  to  progress,  that  equality  and  prosperity  shall  never 
be  impaired  or  chafe  for  want  of  room. 

The  pious  veneration  spontaneously  awarded  by  the  human  heart  to 
men,  whose  lives  exhibit  exalted  devotion  and  exalted  success,  inspiring 
and  perpetuating  in  society  the  "  principle  of  virtue  always  in  exercise," 
has  placed  Hercules,  the  pioneer  of  the  system  of  the  Mediterranean,  in 
the  number  of  the  immortal  gods  of  antiquity :  a  constellation  in  the 
ethereal  canopy  diurnally  renews  his  memory,  his  name,  and  his  actions. 

Modern  times,  accepting  the  tradition,  behold  it  stamped  upon  the  coin 
of  Spain  and  the  Indies,  to  obtain  a  circulation  as  universal  and  familiar 
as  the  human  race. 

The  American  people  pursue  the  planting  of  empire,  advancing  with 
intense  celerity  ;  moving  to  the  front  according  to  a  system  understood  and 
self-disciplined ;  marching  with  the  cadence  of  an  army  of  innumerable 
legions ;  uniting  in  one  homogeneous  order,  with  the  same  energies,  a 
single  aim,  and  rushing  to  consummate  a  common  destiny.  Shining  in 
the  front  of  this  marching  host,  the  pioneer  and  exemplar,  ^'' first  in  war, 
first  in  peace,  and  first  in  the  hearts  of  his  country  men, '^  nppears  the  form 


THE  SOUTH  PASS   OF  AMERICA.  63 

of  Washington,  whose  oracular  wisdom  and  intrepid  constancy  inspired 
the  normal  councils  where  its  mould  was  cast,  its  strategy  fixed,  and  its 
unalterable  mission  first  inaugurated.  Let  this  name,  then,  find  a  monu- 
ment around  whose  base  the  condensed  column  of  progress  shall  file  to 
and  fro  during  all  future  ages  I 

Where  the  summit-crest  of  our  continent  is  found  ;  the  focal  source  of 
its  rivers  and  its  sierras ;  where  the  cloud-compelling  Cordillera  culmi- 
nates over  the  "  Gateway  of  empires  ;"  let  these  commemorate  this  name 
immortally,  while  the  grass  shall  grow  and  the  waters  run,  as  firm  and 
enduring  as  the  loftiest  mountain.  Let  the  children  of  the  world  be 
taught  to  say  :  Behold  the  Pass  and  the  Pillars  of  Washington  ! 

The  history  of  the  human  race  arranges  and  gauges  itself  by  genera- 
tions. Thirty-three  years  are  estimated  to  be  the  period  of  control  exer- 
cised by  each  generation  over  the  long  life  of  a  nation.  As  each  succeeds 
its  predecessor,  the  work  of  progress  is  reinvigorated,  and  fresh  power  and 
new  conquests  accumulate.  The  present  is  the  eighty-sixth  year  of  the 
Federal  Constitution,  and  inaugurates  the  third  generation  of  our  united 
people. 

1\\Q  first  gave  to  us  this  sacred  Union,  and  founded  our  continental 
Republic.  The  second  has  filled  up  the  Atlantic  half  of  the  continent 
with  States,  secured  the  maritime  connections  with  that  ocean  and  with 
Europe,  and  has  blazed  for  us  the  way  across  the  continent  to  the  Pacific 
and  to  Asia.  We,  the  third  generation,  receive  from  them  the  pious  task 
to  plant  States  onward  to  that  ocean ;  to  complete  the  zodiac  of  fraternal 
nations  round  the  globe,  and  to  set  deep  and  firm  to  their  outward  dimen- 
sions the  foundations  they  have  laid. 

As  we  assume  our  task,  illuminated  by  the  example  of  their  wisdom, 
energy,  and  glory,  intent  to  equal  them  in  the  first  and  surpass  them  in 
the  rest,  may  we  not  repeat  this  invocation  to  the  luminary  of  the  universe, 
Ls  he  departs  to  usher  in  another  day :  — 

"  The  weary  sun  hath  made  a  golden  set, 
And,  by  the  bright  track  of  his  fiery  car. 
Gives  token  of  a  goodly  day  to-morrow !" 


CHAPTER    VI. 

THE    GREAT    BASIN    OF   THE   MISSISSIPPI, 

The  most  obviously  remarkable  physical  feature  of  America  and  of  the 
inhabited  globe,  is  the  Basin  of  the  Missmippi.  As  yet  the  popular  mind 
does  not  clearly  comprehend  its  dimensions,  and  the  understanding  of  its 
physical  characteristics  is  indistinct  and  vague.  It  is  bisected  through  its 
centre  by  a  supreme  axtery,  which  above  St.  Louis  has  received  the  name 
of  the  Missouri,  and  below,  the  Mississippi  River. 

This  is  5000  miles  in  length,  and  its  surface  is  a  continuous  inclined 
plane,  descending  seven  inches  in  the  mile.  Into  this  central  artery,  as 
into  a  common  trough,  descend  innumerable  rivers  coming  from  the  great 
mountain  chains  of  the  continent. 

All  of  the  immense  area  thus  drained,  forms  a  single  basin,  of  which 
the  circumferent  mountains  form  the  rim.  It  may  also  be  called  an  amphi- 
theatre, embracing  1,123,100  square  miles  of  surface.  This  has  been, 
during  the  antediluvian  ages,  the  bed  of  a  great  ocean,  such  as  is  now  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  or  the  Mediterranean,  above  the  surface  of  which  the 
mountains  protruded  themselves  as  islands. 

Gradually  filled  up  by  the  filtration  of  the  waters  during  countless  ages, 
it  has  reached  its  present  altitude  above  the  other  basins,  over  which  the 
oceans  now  still  roll,  and  into  which  the  waters  have  retired. 

The  "  Bamn  of  the  Mississippi''  is,  then,  a  pavement  of  calcareous  rock 
many  thousand  feet  in  depth,  formed  by  the  sediment  of  the  superincum- 
bent water,  deposited  stratum  upon  stratum,  compressed  by  its  weight  and 
crj'Stallized  into  rock  by  its  chemical  fermentation  and  pressure.  It  is  in 
exact  imitation  of  this  sublime  process  of  the  natural  world,  that  every 
housewife  compresses  the  milk  of  her  dairy  into  solid  cheese  and  butter. 

It  is,  therefore,  a  homogeneous,  undulating  plain  of  the  secondary  or 
sedimentary  formation,  surmounted  by  a  covering  of  soil  from  which 
springs  the  vegetation,  as  hair  from  the  external  skin  of  an  animal. 
Through  this  coating  of  soil,  and  into  the  soft  surface  strata  of  rock,  the 
descending  fresh  waters  burrow  their  channels,  converging  everywhere  from 
the  circumferent  rim  to  the  lowest  level  and  pass  out  to  the  sea. 

In  this  system,  which  is  the  same  as  the  circulation  of  the  blood  in 
64 


THE   GREAT  BASIN   OF    THE  MISSISSIPPI.  65 

animal  life,  the  Missouri  River  and  the  minutest  rill  that  flows  from  a 
garden  fountain,  has  each  its  specific  and  conspicuous  place.  Hence  the 
corresponding  order  in  the  undulations,  the  variety,  and  the  complexity 
of  contour  in  the  surface  and  in  its  vegetation. 

Such  is  this  vast  Basin,  whose  transverse  diameter  is  2500  miles,  and  so 
simple,  homogeneous,  and  clear  is  the  system  of  its  geology  and  its  waters. 
The  vegetation  and  climate  have  a  like  consistent  order  of  arrangement, 
and  are  more  varied.  These  vary  with  the  latitude,  the  distance  from  the 
oceans,  and  with  the  altitude. 

The  insular  site  of  New  York  City  is  upon  the  bank  of  the  sea,  is  slxfy 
feet  elevated  above  the  sea,  and  is  constantly  irrigated  by  the  evaporation 
coming  from  the  sea;  it  is  in  latitude  41°  30'  north. 

The  plain  of  the  South  Pass  is  2000  miles  from  the  sea ;  is  elevated 
7500  feet  above  the  sea ;  has  no  vapor  from  the  sea ;  but  an  atmosphere 
rainless  and  without  dew  ;  it  is  in  latitude  42°  30'  north. 

Such  are  the  contrasts  in  the  elements  affecting  climate  and  vegetation. 

Through  the  interval  between  these  two  extremes  Nature  changes,  from 
one  to  the  other,  by  a  graduation  so  delicate  and  uniform  as  to  be  scarcely 
sensible  to  a  traveller  who  goes  less  than  the  whole  distance.  Yet,  to  one 
who  does  so,  these  changes  are  as  palpable  upon  the  face  of  Nature,  as  are 
the  diurnal  alternations  of  light  and  darkness.  The  timber,  the  flora,  and 
the  grasses  indicate  the  presence  and  absence  of  atmospheric  irrigation,  as 
palpably  as  the  sun  indicates  the  day,  and  the  stars  the  night. 

All  that  portion  of  the  Mississippi  Basin  lying  between  the  Mississippi 
River  and  the  Atlantic,  is  densely  timbered,  excepting  only  a  portion  of 
Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Wisconsin ;  so  also  are  the  States  of  Louisiana, 
Arkansas,  and  South  Missouri. 

An  irregular  line  from  the  head  of  Lake  Erie,  running  towards  the 
south  and  west  into  Texas,  defines  the  cessation  of  the  timber.  Between 
this  line  and  the  sea  exists  a  continuous  forest  region,  perpetually  moist- 
ened by  showers  from  the  ocean. 

Beyond  this  line,  and  deeper  into  the  continent,  the  upland  ceases  to 
nourish  timber,  which  is  replaced  by  luxuriant  annual  grasses,  though 
narrow  lines  of  forest  continue  upon  the  saturated  bottoms  of  the  rivers 
and  in  the  islands.  This  is  the  Prairie  region  of  luxuriant  annual  grasses, 
and  soft,  arable  soil,  over  which  the  fires  annually  sweep  after  the  decay 
of  vegetation. 

The  termination  of  this  belt  is  marked  by  an  irregular  line  parallel  to 
the  first,  where  the  rains  cease,  and  the  timber  entirely  disappears.  It  is 
about  450  miles  in  width,  and  within  it  artificial  irrigation  is  not  prac- 
tised, nor  necessary,  it  being  everywhere  soft,  arable,  and  fertile. 

5 


(1(1  THE   GREAT  liASIX   OF    THE   MlSSISS'im. 

To  this  succeeds  the  immense  rainless  region  onward  to  the  mountains, 
exchisively  pastoral,  of  a  compact  soil,  coated  with  the  dwarf  buffalo  grass, 
without  trees,  and  the  abode  of  the  aboriginal  cattle.  That  no  desert  does 
or  can  exist  within  this  Basin,  is  manifest  from  the  abundance  and  mag- 
nitude of  the  rivers;  the  uniform  calcareous  formation  ;  the  absence  of  a 
tropical  sun  ;  its  longitudinal  position  across  the  temperate  zone ;  and  the 
greatness  and  altitude  of  the  mountains  on  its  western  rim. 

The  river  system  of  the  Mississij)pi  Basin  resembles  a  fan  of  palm-leaf. 
The  stem  in  the  State  of  Louisiana  rests  in  the  Gulf;  above,  the  affluent 
rivers  converge  to  it  from  all  parts  of  the  compass.  From  the  east  come 
in  the  Homoehitto,  the  Yazoo,  the  Ohio,  the  Illinois,  and  the  Upjier  Mis- 
sissippi; From  the  west,  the  Red  River,  the  Washita,  the  Arkansas,  the 
White,  St.  Francis,  and  Osage  Rivers,  the  Kansas,  the  Triple  Platte,  the 
L'Eau  qui  Cours,  and  the  Yellowstone,  all  navigable  rivers  of  great  length 
and  importance. 

These  rivers  present  a  continuous  navigable  channel  of  22,500  miles, 
having  45,000  miles  of  shore,  an  amount  of  navigation  and  coast  equal  to 
the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

The  area  of  the  Mississippi  Basin  classifies  itself  into  one-and-a-half- 
fifths  of  compactly-growing  forest,  the  same  of  prairie,  and  two-fifths  of 
great  plains.  Through  all  of  these  the  river  system  is  ramified  as  minutely 
complex  as  are  the  veins  and  arteries  of  the  human  system. 

The  population  is  at  present  18,000,000.  The  capacity  for  population 
is  indefinite.     Comparison  will  illustrate  this  interesting  fact. 

Society  erects  itself  into  evipires  in  order  to  arrive  at  sti-cngth,  civilization, 
and  permanence.  The  most  perfect  example  is  the  enquire  of  the  Romans, 
whose  history  we  familiarly  possess  conq)lete,  of  its  rise,  cnlminatioii.  and 
slow  decline.  This  empire  occupied  and  fused  into  one  political  and  social 
system  the  Basin  of  the  Mediterranean,  whose  area  is  1,1G0,0(,0  square 
miles. 

From  out  of  this  they  never  passed,  except  into  the  corner  of  Gaul  and 
Britain,  but  restricted  themselves  to  the  Mediterranean  and  Pontic  Seas, 
to  the  Nile,  to  the  Danube,  and  to  the  Rhone.  This  empire,  embracing 
the  above  area,  contained  under  Trajan  arjd  the  Antouines  131,000,000  of 
population,  and  Rome  itself,  in  the  geographical  centre,  had  a  diameter  of 
50  miles  and  10,000,000  of  inhabitants! 

But  the  area  of  this  Basin  is,  for  the  most  part,  a  salt-water  waste,  into 
which  protrude  the  peuin.sulas  of  Asia  Minor,  Greece,  Italy,  and  Spain, 
themselves  filled  with  mountain  vertebrae,  and  also  a  few  islands.  Space 
for  habitations  and  the  production  of  food  is,  therefore,  scarce. 

The  equivalent,  with  us,  of  this  .salt  surface  and  rugged  mountains,  is, 


THE   ORE  AT  BASIN   OF   THE  MISSISSIPPI.  67 

everywhere,  an  undulating,  calcareous  plain,  uniformly  inhabitable  and 
productive.  The  rivers  surpass  the  sea  for  the  freightage  of  commerce, 
and  the  front  of  land  upon  them  exceeds  the  coasts  of  the  oceans  in 
amount  and  accessibility.  The  Basin  of  the  Mississippi  will  then  more 
easily  contain  and  feed  ten  times  the  population,  or  1,310,000,000  of 
inhabitants ! 

If  the  calcareous  plain  extending  to  the  Arctic  Sea,  the  two  maritime 
fronts,  and  the  mountain  formation,  be  added,  and  the  whole  compared  to 
Europe  and  Asia,  2,000,000,000  will  easily  find  room — a  population  double 
the  existing  human  race  ! 

This  Basin  is  all  within  the  Temperate  Zone  ;  but  upon  the  shores  of 
the  Gulf,  at  the  level  of  the  sea,  tropical  fruits,  flowers,  and  vegetation  are 
produced.  On  the  high  mountain  slopes  grows  the  vegetation  of  the  Arctic 
Zone.  Between  these  are  found  every  kind  of  agricultural  production,  as 
we  descend  from  the  extremes  to  the  central  medium. 

In  position  it  is  exactly  central  to  the  continent.  Not  far  remote  from 
the  west  bank  of  the  Missouri  River,  in  the  bosom  of  romantic  scenery 
and  fertile  prairie,  is  a  spot  Avhere  the  Smokyhill  and  Bcpublican  Rivers, 
by  their  confluence,  form  the  Kansas.  This  is  the  geographical  centre  at 
once  of  the  North  American  continent,  and  of  the  Basin  of  the  Mississippi. 

The  circle  described  from  this  centre  with  a  radius  to  San  Francisco  will 
pass  through  Vancouver  on  the  Columbia,  the  port  of  Severn  River  on 
Hudson's  Bay,  through  Quehec,  through  Boston^  through  Havana,  Vera 
Cruz,  and  the  city  of  Mexico.  ■  With  a  radius  to  the  49th  degree,  a  circle 
will  pass  through  Mobile,  New  Orleans,  and  Matagorda.  This  spot  is, 
therefore,  the  geographical  centre  of  the  North  American  Continent  and  of 
the  Basin  of  the  Mississippi,  both  at  once. 

It  is  also  equally  the  centre  of  the  American  Union,  as  it  is  now 
blocked  out  into  existing  States  and  into  prospective  States,  to  occupy 
sites  in  the  now-existing  Territories  !  Moreover,  it  is  equidistant  from,  and 
exactly  in  the  middle  between,  the  two  halves  of  the  human  family,  dis- 
tinctly concentrated  ;  the  one  half  Christians,  occupying  Western  Europe, 
to  the  number  of  259,000,000  of  population ;  the  other  half  Pagans, 
occupying  Oriental  Asia  and  Polynesia,  to  the  number  of  650,000,000  ! 

Europe  has  all  the  outlets  of  its  inland  seas  and  rivers  towards  the 
west,  debouching  on  to  our  Atlantic  front,  towards  which  its  whole  surface 
slopes.  Asia  similarly  presents  to  our  Pacific  front  an  Oriental  slojye, 
containing  her  great  rivers,  the  densest  masses  of  her  population,  and 
detached  islands  of  great  area,  dense  population,  and  infinite  production. 

The  distance  from  the  European  to  the  Asian  .shores  (from  Paris  tc 
Pekin),  travelling  straight  by  the  continuous  river  line  of  the  Potomac, 


68  THE   GREAT  BASIN   OF    THE  MISSISSIPPI. 

Ohio,  Missouri,  Platte,  and  Snake  Rivers,  and  across  the  two  oceans,  is 
only  10,000  geographic  miles. 

This  straight  line  is  the  axis  of  that  temperate  zone  of  the  Northern 
Hemisphere  of  the  globe,  thirty-three  degi-ees  in  width,  which  contains 
four-fifths  of  the  land,  nine-tenths  of  the  people,  and  all  the  white  races, 
commercial  activity,  and  industry  of  the  civilized  world. 

When,  therefore,  this  interval  of  North  America  shall  be  filled  up,  the 
affiliation  of  mankind  will  be  accomplished,  proximity  recognized,  the  dis- 
traction of  intervening  oceans  and  equatorial  heats  cease,  the  remotest 
nations  grouped  together  and  fused  into  one  universal  and  convenient 
system  of  immediate  relationship. 

Such  are  some  of  the  extraordinary  attractions  presented  to  mankind,  as 
a  social  mass,  by  the  position  and  configuration  of  the  Mississippi  Basin. 
There  is  another  and  superlative  prospective  view.  This  presents  itself 
in  contrasting  the  physical  configuration  of  North  America  with  the 
other  continents. 

Europe,  the  smallest  in  area  of  the  continents,  culminates  in  its  centre 
into  the  icy  masses  of  the  Alps.  From  the  glaciers,  where  all  the  great 
rivers  have  their  sources,  they  descend  the  declivities  and  radiate  to  the 
different  seas. 

The  Danube  flows  directly  east  to  the  Pontic  Sea ;  the  Po,  to  the 
Adriatic ;  the  Rhone,  to  the  Sea  of  Lyons ;  the  Rhine,  north  to  the 
German  Sea.  Walled  ofi"  by  the  Pyrenean  and  Carpathian  Mountains, 
divergent  and  isolated,  are  the  Tagus,  the  Elbe,  and  other  single  rivers, 
aflfluents  of  the  Baltic,  the  Atlantic,  the  Mediterranean,  and  the  Pontic 
Sea. 

Descending /rom  common  radiant  points  and  diverging  every  way  from 
one  another,  no  intercommunication  exists  among  the  rivers  of  Europe 
towards  their  sources  ;  navigation  is  petty  and  feeble.  Art  and  commerce 
have  never,  during  thirty  centuries,  united  so  many  small  valleys,  remotely 
isolated  by  impenetrable  barriers. 

Hence  upon  each  river  dwells  a  distinct  people,  differing  from  all  the  rest 
in  race,  language,  religion,  interests,  and  habits.  Though  often  politically 
amalgamated  by  conquest,  they  again  relapse  into  fragments,  from  innate 
geographical  incoherence.  Religions  creeds  and  diplomacy  form  no  more 
enduring  bond. 

The  history  of  these  nations  is  a  story  of  perpetual  war,  of  mutual 
extermination  ;  an  appalling  dramatic  catalogue  of  a  few  splendid  tyran- 
nies crushing  multitudinoiis  millions  of  submissive  and  unchronicled  serfs. 

Exactly  similar  to  Europe,  though  grander  in  size  and  population,  is 
Asia. 


THE   GREAT  BASIN  OF   THE  MISSISSIPPI.  69 

From  the  stupendous  central  barrier  of  the  Himalayas  run  the  four 
great  rivers  of  China,  due  east,  to  discharge  themselves  under  the  rising 
sun :  towards  the  south  run  the  rivers  of  Cochin  China,  the  Ganges,  and 
the  Indus :  towards  the  west,  the  rivers  of  the  Caspian :  and  north, 
through  Siberia  to  the  Arctic  Sea,  many  rivers  of  the  first  magnitude. 

During  fifty  centuries,  as  now,  the  Alps  and  Himalaya  Mountains  have 
proved  insuperable  barriers  to  the  amalgamation  of  the  nations  around 
their  bases  and  dwelling  in  the  valleys  that  radiate  from  their  slopes. 

The  continents  of  Africa  and  South  America,  as  far  as  we  are  familiar 
with  the  details  of  their  surfaces,  are  even  more  than  these  perplexed  into 
dislocated  fragments. 

In  contrast,  the  interior  of  North  America  presents  towards  heaven  an 
expanded,  concave  bowl,  to  receive  and  fuse  into  harmony  whatsoever 
enters  within  its  rim.  So,  each  of  the  other  continents  presenting  the 
convex  surface  of  a  bowl  reversed,  scatter  everything  from  a  central  apex 
into  radiant  distraction. 

-Political  societies  and  empires  have  in  all  ages  conformed  themselves  to 
emphatic  geographical  facts.  This  Democratic  Repiihlican  empire  of 
North  America  is,  then,  predestined  to  expand  and  fit  itself  to  the  conti- 
nent ;  to  control  the  oceans  on  either  hand,  and  eventually  the  continents 
beyond  them.  Much  is  uncertain,  yet  through  all  the  vicissitudes  of  the 
future,  this  much  of  eternal  truth  is  discernible. 

In  geography  the  antithesis  of  the  old  world,  in  society  we  are  and  will 
be  the  reverse.  Our  North  America  will  rapidly  accumulate  a  population 
equalling  that  of  the  rest  of  the  world  combined :  a  people  one  and  indi- 
visible, identical  in  manners,  language,  customs,  and  impulses :  preserv- 
ing the  same  civilization,  the  same  religion ;  imbued  with  the  same 
opinions,  and  having  the  same  political  liberties. 

Of  this  we  have  two  illustrations  now  under  our  eye,  the  one  passing 
away,  the  other  advancing.  The  aboriginal  Indian  race,  among.st  whom, 
from  Darien  to  the  Esquimaux,  and  from  Florida  to  Vancouver's  Island, 
exists  a  perfect  identity  in  hair,  complexion,  features,  religion,  stature,  and 
language  :  and,  second,  in  the  instinctive  fusion  into  one  language  and  into 
one  new  race  of  immigrant  Germans,  English,  Norwegians,  Celts,  and 
Italians,  whose  individualities  are  obliterated  in  a  single  generation. 

Thus,  the  perpetuity  and  destiny  of  our  sacred  Union  find  their  con- 
clusive proof  and  illustration  in  the  bosom  of  nature.  The  political  storms 
that  periodically  rage  are  but  the  clouds  and  sunshine  that  give  variety  to 
the  atmosphere  and  checker  our  history  as  we  march. 

The  possession  of  the  Basin  of  the  Mississippi,  thus  held  in  vnity  by 
the  American  people,  is  a  supreme,  a  crowning  mercy.     Viewed  alone  in 


70  THE   GREAT  BASIN  OF   THE  MISSISSIPPI. 

its  "wonderful  position  and  capacity  among  the  continents  and  the  nations ; 
viewed,  also,  as  the  dominating  part  of  the  great  calcareous  plain  formed 
of  the  conterminous  Basins  of  the  Mississippi,  St.  Lawrence,  Hudson's 
Bay,  and  Athabasca,  the  amphitheatre  of  the  world — here  is  supremely, 
indeed,  the  most  magnificent  dwelling-place  marked  out  by  God  for  man's 
abode. 

Behold,  then,  rising  now  and  in  the  future,  the  empire  which  industry 
and  self-government  create.  The  growth  of  half  a  century,  hewed  out  of 
the  wilderness — its  weapons,  the  axe  and  plow ;  its  tactics,  labor  and 
energy  ;  its  soldiers,  free  and  equal  citizens. 

Behold  the  oracular  goal  to  which  our  eagles  march,  and  whither  the 
phalanx  of  our  States  and  people  moves  harmoniously  on,  to  plant  a  huixr 
dred  States  and  consummate  their  civic  ereatness. 


MAI' 

IlliislrnliM.j   II,,.  V. 

S  VSTE.^I  or  I'Aicrs, 

DOMESTIC  KEIATWHS  OfmGREAT  PIAIHS. 
Tin;  XOKTll  AAIKUK. V.N  ANDK.S 

PACIFIC  MARATIME  FRONT. 


CHAPTER   VI I. 

PASTORAL     AMERICA. 

There  has  been  a  radical  misapprehension  in  the  popular  mind  as  to 
the  true  character  of  the  "  Great  Plains  of  Amenca^'  as  complete  as  that 
which  pervaded  Europe  respecting  the  Atlantic  Ocean  during  the  whole 
historic  period  prior  to  Columbus.  These  Plains  are  not  deserts,  but 
the  opposite,  and  are  the  cardinal  basis  of  the  future  empire  of  commerce 
and  industry  now  erecting  itself  upon  the  North  American  Continent. 

They  are  calcareous,  and  form  the  Pastoral  Garden  of  the  world. 
Their  position  and  area  may  be  easily  understood.  The  meridian  line 
which  terminates  the  States  of  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  Missouri,  and  Iowa 
on  the  west,  forms  their  eastern  limit,  and  the  Rocky  Mountain  crest  their 
western  limit.  Between  these  limits  they  occupy  a  longitudinal  parallel- 
ogram of  less  than  1000  miles  in  width,  extending  from  the  Texan  to  the 
Arctic  coasts. 

There  is  no  timber  upon  them,  and  single  trees  are  scarce.  They  have 
a  gentle  slope  from  the  tcest  to  the  east,  and  abound  in  rivers.  They  are 
clad  thick  with  nutritious  grasses,  and  swarm  with  animal  life.  The  soil 
is  not  silicious  or  sandy,  but  is  a  fine  calcareous  mould.  They  run  smoothly 
out  to  the  navigatile  rivers,  the  Missouri,  Mississippi,  and  St.  Lawrence, 
and  to  the  Texan  coast. 

The  mountain  masses  towards  the  Pacific  form  no  serious  barrier 
between  them  and  that  ocean. 

No  portion  of  their  whole  sweep  of  surface  is  more  than  1000  miles 
from  the  most  facile  navigation.  The  prospect  is  everywhere  gently  undu- 
lating and  graceful,  being  bounded,  as  on  the  ocean,  by  the  horizon. 
Storms  are  rare,  except  during  the  melting  of  the  snows  upon  the  crest  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains. 

.The  climate  is  comparatively  rainless;  the  rivers  serve,  like  the  Nile, 
to  irrigate  rather  than  drain  the  neighboring  surface,  and  have  few  afflu- 
ents. They  all  run  from  west  to  east,  having  beds  shallow  and  broad,  and 
the  basins  through  which  they  flow  are  flat,  long,  and  narrow.  The  area 
of  the  "  Great  Plains"  is  equivalent  to  the  surface  of  the  twenty-four 
States  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Atlantic  Sea.    They  are  one  homo- 

71 


72  PASTORAL    AMERICA. 

geneous  formation,  smooth,  uniform,  and  continuous,  without  a  single 
abrupt  mountain,  timbered  space,  desert,  or  lake. 

From  their  ample  dimensions  and  position  they  define  themselves  to  be 
the  jyasture-Jields  of  the  world.  Upon  them  PASTORAL  AGRICULTURE  will 
become  a  separate  gi'and  department  of  continental  industry. 

The  pastoral  characteristic^  being  novel  to  our  people,  needs  a  minute 
explanation.  In  traversing  the  continent  from  the  Atlantic  beach  to  the 
South  Pass,  the  point  of  greatest  altitude  and  remoteness  from  the  sea,  we 
cross  successively  the  timbered  region,  the  prairie  region  of  soft  soil  and 
long  annual  grasses,  and  finally  the  Great  Plains.  The  two  first  are  irri- 
gated by  the  rains  coming  from  the  sea,  and  are  arable. 

The  last  is  rainless,  of  a  compact  soil  resisting  the  plow,  and  is,  there- 
fore, pastoral.  The  herbage  is  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  climate  and  the 
dryness  of  the  soil  and  atmo.sphere,  and  is  perennial.  It  is  edible  and 
nutritious  throughout  the  year.  This  is  the  "  gramma,''  or  "  bvffalo  grass.'' 
It  covers  the  ground  one  inch  in  height,  has  the  appearance  of  a  delicate 
moss,  and  its  leaf  has  the  fineness  and  spiral  texture  of  a  negTo's  hair. 

During  the  melting  of  the  snows  in  the  immense  mountain  masses  on 
the  western  frontier  of  the  Great  Plains,  the  rivers  swell  like  the  Nile, 
and  yield  a  copious  evaporation  in  their  long  sinuous  courses  across  the 
Plains  :  storm-clouds  gather  on  the  summits,  roll  down  the  mountain 
flanks,  and  discharge  themselves  in  vernal  showers.  During  this  tempo- 
rary prevalence  of  moist  atmosphere  these  delicate  grasses  grow,  seed  in 
the  root,  and  are  cured  into  hay  vpon  the  ground  by  the  gradually  return- 
ing drouth. 

It  is  this  longitudinal  belt  of  perennial  pasture  upon  which  the  buflfalo 
finds  his  v niter  food,  dwelling  ixpon  it  without  regard  to  latitude,  and  here 
are  the  infinite  herds  of  aboriginal  cattle  peculiar  to  North  America — 
buffido,  wild  horses,  elk,  antelope,  white  and  black-tailed  deer,  mountain 
sheep,  the  grisly  bear,  wolves,  the  hare,  badger,  porcupine,  and  smaller 
animals  innumerable. 

The  aggregate  number  of  this  cattle,  by  calculation  from  sound  data, 
exceeds  one  hundred  million.  No  annual  fires  ever  sweep  over  the  Great 
Plains  ;  these  are  confined  to  the  Prairie  region. 

The  Great  Plains  also  swarm  with  poultry — the  turkey,  the  mountain 
cock,  the  prairie  cock,  .sage  chickens,  the  sand-hill  crane,  the  curlew. 
Water-fowl  of  every  variety,  the  swan,  goose,  l)raiit,  ducks.  Marmots,  the 
armadillo,  the  peccary,  reptiles,  the  horned  frog.  Birds  of  prey,  eagles, 
vultures,  the  raven,  and  the  small  birds  of  game  and  song.  The  streams 
abound  in  fi.sh.     Dogs  and  demi-wolves  abound. 

The  immense  population  of  nomadic  Indians,  lately  a  million  in  num- 


PASTORAL   AMERICA.  73 

ber,  have,  from  immemorial  antiquity,  subsisted  exclusively  upon  these 
aboriti'inal  herds.  They  are  unac(juainted  with  any  kind  of  agriculture  or 
the  habitual  use  of  vegetable  food  or  fruits. 

From  this  source  the  Indian  draws  exclusively  his  food,  his  lodge,  his 
fuel,  harness,  clothing,  bed,  his  ornaments,  weapons,  and  utensils.  Here 
Is  his  sole  dependence  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  his  existence. 
The  innumerable  carnivorous  animals  also  subsist  upon  them.  The  buffalo 
alone  have  appeared  to  me  as  numerous  as  the  American  people,  and  to 
inhabit  as  uniformly  as  large  a  space  of  country.  The  buffalo  robe  at  once 
suggests  his  adaptability  to  a  winter  climate. 

The  Great  Plains  embrace  a  very  ample  proportion  of  arable  soil  for 
farms.  The  '■'■bottoms'''  of  the  rivers  are  very  broad  and  level,  having 
only  a  few  inches  of  elevation  above  the  waters,  which  descend  by  a  rapid 
and  even  current.  They  may  be  easily  and  cheaply  saturated  by  all  the 
various  systems  of  artificial  irrigation,  azequias,  artesian  wells,  or  floo '.- 
iug  by  machinery. 

Under  this  treatment  the  soils,  being  alluvial  and  calcareoiis,  both  fi'om 
the  sulphate  and  carbonate  formations,  return  a  prodigious  yield,  and  are 
independent  of  the  seasons.  Every  variety  of  grain,  grass,  vegetable,  the 
grape  and  fruits,  flax,  hemp,  cotton,  and  the  flora,  under  a  perpetual 
sun,  and  irrigated  at  the  root,  attain  extraordinary  vigor,  flavor,  and 
beauty. 

The  Great  Plains  abound  in  fuel,  and  the  materials  for  dwellings  and 
fencing.  Bituminous  coal  is  everywhere  interstratified  with  the  calcareous 
and  sandstone  formation  ;  it  is  also  abundant  in  the  flanks  of  the  moun- 
tains, and  is  everywhere  conveniently  accessible.  The  dung  of  the  buffalo 
is  scattered  everywhere. 

The  order  of  vegetable  growth  being  reversed  by  the  aridity  of  the 
atmosphere,  what  show  above  as  the  merest  bushes,  radiate  themselves 
deep  into  the  earth,  and  form  below  an  immense  arborescent  growth. 
Fuel  of  wood  is  found  by  digging. 

Plaster  and  lime,  limestone,  freestone,  clay,  and  sand,  exist  within  the 
area  of  almost  every  acre.  The  large  and  economical  adobe  brick,  hard- 
ened in  the  sun  and  without  fire,  supersedes  other  materials  for  walls  and 
fences  in  this  dry  atmosphere,  and,  as  in  Syria  and  Egypt,  resists  decay 
for  centuries.  The  dwellings  thus  constructed  are  most  healthy,  being 
impervious  to  heat,  cold,  damp,  and  wind. 

The  climate  of  the  Great  Plains  is  favorable  to  health,  longevity,  intel- 
lectual and  phj'sical  development,  and  stimulative  of  an  exalted  tone  of 
social  civilization  and  refinement. 

The  American  people  and   their  ancestral  European  people  have  dwelt 


74  PASTORAL    AMERICA. 

for  many  thousand  years  exclusively  in  countries  of  timber  and  within 
the  region  of  the  maritime  atmosphere:  where  winter  annihilates  all  vege- 
tation annually  for  half  the  year:  where  all  animal  food  must  be  sustained, 
fed,  and  fattened  by  tillage  with  the  plow  :  where  the  essential  necessities 
of  existence,  food,  clothing,  fuel,  and  dwellings,  are  secured  only  by  con- 
stant and  intense  manual  toil. 

To  this  people  heretofore^  the  immense  empire  of  j^asforal  agricnltxre, 
at  the  threshold  of  which  we  have  arrived,  has  been  as  completely  a  blank, 
as  was  the  present  condition  of  social  development  on  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
and  the  American  Continent,  to  the  ordinary  thoughts  of  the  antique 
Greeks  and  Romans. 

Hence  this  immense  world  of  plains  and  mountains ;  occupying  three- 
fifths  of  our  continent ;  so  novel  to  them  and  so  exactly  contradictory  in 
every  feature  to  the  existing  prejudices,  routine,  and  economy  of  society, 
is  unanimously  pronounced  an  uninhahitahle  desert. 

To  any  reversal  of  such  a  judgment,  the  unanimous  public  opinion,  the 
rich  and  poor,  the  wise  and  ignorant,  the  famous  and  obscure,  agree  to 
oppose  unanimously  a  dogmatic  and  universal  deafness.  To  them,  the 
delineations  of  travellers,  elsewhere  intelligent,  are  here  tinged  with 
lunacy  ;  the  science  of  geography  is  befogged  ;  the  sublime  order  of  Crea- 
tion no  longer  holds,  and  the  supreme  engineering  of  God  is  at  fault  and 
a  chaos  of  blunders  ! 

The  Pastoral  Region  is  longitudinal.  The  bulk  of  it  is  under  the 
Temperate  Zone,  out  of  which  it  runs  into  the  Arctic  Zone  on  the  north, 
and  into  the  Tropical  Zone  on  the  south.  The  parallel  Atlantic  arable 
and  maritime  region  flanks  it  on  the  east ;  that  of  the  Pacific  on  the  west. 
The  Great  Plains,  then,  at  once  separate  and  bind  together  these  flanks, 
rounding  out  both  the  variety  and  compactness  of  arrangement  in  the  ele- 
mentary details  of  society,  which  enables  a  continent  to  govern  itself  with 
the  same  ease  as  a  single  city^ 

*  Such  an  internal  adjustment  of  society,  expanding  itself  uniformly  over  the 
whole  area  of  the  continent,  accomj)anies  incidentally  and  of  necessity  its  grand 
architecture. 

The  physical  aniitoniy,  ausj)icious  and  consistent  in  all  its  details,  the  intense  range 
of  variety,  the  neighborhood  and  conijiactness  of  these  elements  so  various  in  configu- 
ration, warmth,  altitude,  and  production,  all  conspire  to  dictate  fusion  and  order. 
They  correct  and  render  impossible  what  is  hostile  and  opposite  to  them. 

The  conietitioiialities  which  anticipate  tumult  will  assert,  establish,  and  perpetuate 
themselves. 

The  experiences  of  history  arm  us  with  precedents  for  our  guidance,  and  instruct 
our  judgments.  They  predict  for  us  a  wholesome  employment  of  our  energies,  accom- 
panied bj'  a  subtle  and  zealous  discipline  comjietent  to  anticipate  and  to  restrain 
disorder. 


PASTORAL   AMERICA.  75 

Assuming,  then,  that  the  advancing  column  of  progress,  having  reached 
and  established  itself  in  force  all  along  the  eastern  front  of  the  Great  Plains^ 
from  Louisiana  to  Minnesota  :  having,  also,  jumped  over  and  flanked  them 
to  occupy  California  and  Oregon  : — 

Assuming  that  this  colunm  is  about  to  debouch  to  the  front  and  occupy 
them  with  the  embodied  impulse  of  our  fifty  millions  of  population  :  here- 
tofore scattered  upon  the  flanks,  but  now  converging  into  phalanx  upon 
the  centre :  some  reflections,  legitimately  made,  may  cheer  the  timid,  and 
confirm  those  who  hesitate  from  old  opinion  and  the  prejudices  of  adverse 
education. 

It  is  well  established  that  six-tenths  of  the  fOod  of  the  human  family  is, 
or  ought  to  be,  animal  food,  the  result  of  pastoral  agriculture.  The  cattle 
of  the  world  consume  eight  times  the  food  per  head,  as  compared  with 
the  human  family.  Meat,  milk,  butter,  cheese,  poultry,  eggs,  wool,  leather, 
honey,  are  the  productions  of  pastoral  agriculture.  Fish  is  the  sponta- 
neous production  of  the  water. 

Nine-tenths  of  the  labor  of  arable  culture  is  expended  to  produce  the 
grain  and  grasses  that  sustain  the  present  supplies  to  the  world  of  the 
above  enumerated  articles  of  the  pastoral  order.  If,  then,  a  country  can 
be  found  where  pastoral  produce  is  spontaneously  sustained  by  nature,  as 
fish  in  the  ocean,  it  is  manifest  that  arable  labor,  being  reduced  to  the  pro- 
duction of  bread  food  only,  may  condense  itself  to  a  very  small  percent- 
age of  its  present  volume,  and  the  cultivated  ground  devoted  to  grain  and 
grass  be  greatly  reduced  in  acres. 

By  the  census  of  1850,  the  pastoral  culture  of  the  American  people 
resulting  exclusively  from  the  plow,  exhibits  the  following  aggregate : — 

Cattle  of  all  kinds 18,378,907 

Horses  and  mules 4,896,050 

Sheep 21,722,220 

Swine 30,.334,213 

Value $655,883,658 

It  is  probable  that  the  aggregate  aboriginal  stock  of  the  Great  Plains 
still  exceeds  in  amount  the  above  table.  It  is  all  spontaneously  supported 
by  nature,  as  is  the  fish  of  the  sea. 

Every  kind  of  our  domestic  animals  flourishes  upon  the  Great  Plains 
equally  well  with  the  wild  ones.  Three  tame  animals  may  be  substituted 
for  every  wild  one,  and  vast  territories  re-occupied,  from  which  the  wild 

The  ancient  discordances  between  urban  and  rural  populations,  manners,  and  tem- 
per, will  find  their  asperities  mutually  modified.  Society,  rectified  by  reflection  from 
the  propitious  powers  of  Nature,  will  insensibly  ascend  to  an  exalted  level,  illustrating 
the  perpetual  dominance  and  activity  of  peace,  industry,  and  concord. 


76  PASTORAL   AilERiCA. 

stock  lias  l^cen  exterminated  by  indiscriminate  slaughter  and  the  increase 
of  the  wolves. 

The  American  people  are  about,  then,  to  inaugurate  a  novel  and  immense 
order  of  industrial  production  :  Pastoral  Agriculture. — Its  fields  will 
be  the  Great  Plains  intermediate  between  the  oceans.  Once  commenced, 
it  will  develop  very  rapidly. 

We  trace  in  their  history  the  successive  inauguration  and  systematic 
growth  of  several  of  these  distinct  orders :  The  tohacco  culture,  the  rice 
culture,  the  cotton  culture,  the  immense  provision  culture  of  cereals  and 
meats,  leather  and  icool,  the  gold  culture,  navigation  e^texndX  and  internal, 
commerce  external  and  internal,  transportation  by  land  and  water,  the  hemp 
culture,  the  Jisheries,  manufactures. 

Each  of  these  has  arisen  as  time  has  ripened  the  necessity  for  each,  and 
noiselessly  taken  and  filled  its  appropriate  place  in  the  general  economy 
of  our  industrial  empire. 

This  2Mstoral  property  transports  itself  on  the  hoof,  and  finds  its  food 
ready  furnished  by  nature.  In  these  elevated  countries  fresh  meats  become 
the  preferable  food  for  man,  to  the  exclusion  of  bread,  vegetables,  and 
salted  articles. 

The  atmosphere  of  the  Great  Plains  is  perpetually  brilliant  with  sun- 
shine, tonic,  healthy,  pungent,  and  inspiring  to  the  temper.  It  corresponds 
with  and  surpasses  the  historic  climate  of  Syria  and  Arabia,  from  whence 
we  inherit  all  that  is  ethereal  and  refined  in  our  system  of  civilization,  our 
religion,  our  sciences,  our  alphabet,  our  numerals,  our  written  languages, 
our  articles  of  food,  our  learning,  and  our  system  of  social  manners. 

As  the  site  for  a  great  central  metropolitan  city  of  the  "  Basin  of  the 
Mississippi'  to  arise  prospectively  upon  the  developments  now  maturing, 
Kansas  City,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kansas  River,  has  the  start,  the  geo- 
gi-aphical  position,  and  the  existing  elements  with  which  any  rival  will 
contend  in  vain. 

It  is  the  focal  point  where  three  developments,  now  near  ripeness,  will 
find  their  Hver  port.  1 .  The  pastoral  development.  2.  The  gold,  silver, 
and  salt  j)roduction  of  the  Sierra  San  Juan.  3.  The  continental  railroad 
from  the  ]*acific. 

These  great  fields  of  enterprise  will  all  be  recognized  and  understood  by 
the  popular  mind,  and  will  be  under  vigorous  headway  within  the  mature 
life  of  the  existing  generation. 

There  must  be  a  great  city  here,  such  as  antiquity  built  at  the  head  of 
the  Mediterranean  and  named  Jerusalem,  Tyre,  Alexandria,  and  Constan- 
tinople ;  such  as  our  own  people  name  New  York,  New  Orleans,  San  Fran- 
cisco, St.  Louis. 


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CHAPTER   VII I. 

THE   SYSTEM    OP   THE   PARCS. 

In  proportion  as  curiosity,  warmed  by  the  expanding  energy  of  pro- 
gress now  everywhere  palpitating  with  activity  and  fresh  fire,  extends  our 
researches  into  every  detail  of  our  entire  country,  we  are  astonished  and 
awed  by  the  splendid  magnitude  of  its  architecture,  and  by  the  faultless 
grace  and  consistency  of  its  anatomy. 

The  Mountain  System  sparkles  everywhere,  and  is  checkered  with 
the  most  startling  beauties.  The  special  recurrence  of  Parcs,  which  are 
innumerable,  and  are  lavishly  scattered  over  its  area,  has  pre-eminent  sig- 
nificance. 

These  are  charming  valleys,  accompanying  the  rivers.  They  surround 
their  sources,  or  expand  from  their  channels,  between  the  mountain 
battlements,  among  which  they  flow. 

Each  is  an  amphitheatre.  They  maintain  everywhere  an  undeviating 
rectitude  of  proportion,  fitted  in  size  to  the  volume  of  the  rivers  and 
mountains.  Fertility  and  enchanting  scenery  mark  them  all.  The  most 
generous  wealth  of  streams  and  vegetation  are  unfailing. 

In  the  latitudinal  courses  of  the  mountain  structures  of  the  other  con- 
tinents, the  favorable  sunshine  being  absent,  this  form  of  valleys  is  either 
wanting,  or  they  are  unattractive.  Those  known  to  fame,  are  Kashmere 
in  Asia:  Constance  and  Geneva,  encased  within  the  Alps  of  Europe. 
These  bowls  are  occupied  by  water  surfaces,  and  are  unfitted  for  habita- 
tion. 

The  Parcs  of  the  North  American  Andes  find  their  culmination 
of  superlative  grandeur  in  the  System  of  the  Four  Parcs  of  Colo- 
rado. 

This  System  towers  over  and  crowns  the  whole  Continental  structure. 
Mortised  down,  many  thousand  feet,  into  the  ample  expanse  of  the  flat- 
tened cone,  encircled  by  all  the  other  North  American  mountains,  they 
surround  the  sources  and  shed  out  all  the  grand  arterial  rivers,  which 
radiate  to  all  the  seas. 

Here  is  the  supreme  dome,  which  surmounts  the  heart  of  North 
America ! 

77 


78  THE  SYSTEM    OF    THE  PARCS. 

Favored  by  their  immense  dimensions,  and  screened  by  an  uninter- 
rupted envelope  of  primary  mountain  edifices  ;  the  climatic  elements 
happily  balanced  ;  give  to  their  atmosphere  a  perpetual  vernal  tempei'ature  ; 
intense  serenity  and  the  most  gorgeous  splendor. 

They  are  hisccted  successively,  through  and  through,  by  the  one  hun- 
ihfd  and  sixth  meridian. 

Each  one  sintjJij  is  of  marvellous  size,  excellence  of  form,  and  eminent 
beauty. 

The  group,  as  they  are  blended  into  one  system,  is  miraculous !  This 
springs  from  its  dominating  continental  position:  from  the  juxtaposition: 
from  the  immediate  contact :  from  the  intense  variety  and  supreme  grace 
illustrating  every  detail  and  pervading  the  entire  structure. 

Kestricted  especially  to  the  System  op  the  Four  Parcs  of  Colo- 
rado, the  San  Luis  Pare  is  readily  entered  at  the  extreme  north 
through  the  Puncho  Pass,  penetrating  the  Cordillera  from  the  Arkansas 
River.  This  pare,  of  elliptical  form,  and  immense  dimensions,  is  envel- 
oped between  the  Cordillera  and  Sierra  Mimbres. 

It  has  its  extreme  northern  point  between  these  two  Sierras,  where  they 
separate  by  a  sharp  angle  and  diverge ;  the  former  to  the  southeast,  and 
the  latter  to  the  southwest. 

The  latitude  of  the  Puncho  Pass  is  38°  30',  the  longitude  106°.  It  is 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  southwest  from  Denver,  and  thirty- 
seven  miles  due  west  from  Cafion  City. 

Emerging  from  the  Puncho  Pass,  the  waters  begin  to  gather  and  form 
the  San  Luis  River.  This  flows  to  the  south,  through  a  valley  of  great 
beauty,  which  rapidly  widens  to  the  right  and  left. 

On  the  east  flank,  the  Cordillera  ascends  abruptly  and  continuously, 
without  any  foot-hills,  to  a  sharp,  snowy  summit.  On  the  west,  foot- 
lulls  and  secondary  mountains,  rising  one  above  the  other,  entangle  the 
whole  space  of  the  Sierra  Mimbres. 

The  Sawatch  River  has  its  source  on  the  inner  (eastern^  flank  of  the 
Sierra  Mimbres,  about  sixty  miles  south  of  its  angle  of  divergence  from 
the  Cordillera,  and,  by  a  course  nearly  east,  converges  toward  the  lower 
San  Luis  River.     It  enters  upon  the  pare  by  a  similar  valley. 

These  two  valleys  expand  into  one  another  around  this  mass  of  foot- 
hills, fusing  into  the  open  pare,  whose  centre  is  here  occupied  by  the  San 
Jjuis  Lake,  into  which  the  two  rivers  converge  and  discharge  their  waters. 

The  San  Luis  Lake,  extending  south  from  the  point  of  the  foot-hills, 
occupies  the  centre  of  the  pare  for  sixty  miles.  It  forms  a  Lotcl  without 
any  outlet  to  its  waters.  It  is  encircled  by  immense  saturated  savannas 
of  luxuriant  grass. 


THE  SYSTEM   OF    THE   PARCS.  79 

Its  water  surface  expands  over  this  savanna  during  the  season  of  the 
melting  snows  upon  the  Sierras,  and  shrinks  when  the  season  of  evapora- 
tion returns.  From  the  flanks  of  the  Cordillera  on  the  east,  at  intervals 
(tf  six  or  eight  miles  asunder,  and  at  very  equal  distances, /o?<r^ee?t  streams 
other  than  the  San  Luis,  descend  and  converge  into  the  San  Luis  Lake. 

The  belt  of  the  sloping  plain  between  the  mountains  and  the  lake,  trav- 
ersed by  so  many  parallel  streams,  bordered  by  meadows  and  groves  of 
cottonwood-trees,  has  from  this  feature  the  name  of  "  Los  Alamos."  It 
is  sixty  miles  in  length  and  twenty  wide. 

On  the  opposite  (tvestern)  side  from  the  flank  of  the  Sierra  Mimbres, 
similar  streams  descend  from  the  west  into  the  lake,  known  as  the  Sa- 
ivatch,  the  Carnero,  and  the  Gareta. 

The  confluent  streams  thus  converging  into  the  San  Luis  Lake  are  nine- 
teen in  number.  The  area  thus  occupied  by  this  isolated  lake  and  drained  into 
it  by  its  converging  affluents,  forming  distinctly  one-third  of  the  whole 
surface  of  the  pare,  is  classified  under  the  general  name  of  "  Rincon.'' 

Advancing  onward  to  the  south  along  the  west  edge  of  the  plain,  ten 
miles,  from  the  Gareta,  the  Rio  del  Norte  River  issues  from  its  mountain 
gorge.  Its  source  is  in  the  perpetual  snows  of  the  peaks  of  the  San  Juan, 
the  local  name  given  to  this  stupendous  culmination  of  the  Sierra 
Mimbres. 

The  Del  Norte  flows  from  its  extreme  source  due  east  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles,  and  having  reached  the  longitudinal  middle  of  the  jJarc,  turns 
abruptly  south,  and,  bisecting  the  pare  for  perhaps  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles,  passes  beyond  its  rim  in  its  course  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

All  the  streams  descending  from  the  enveloping  Sierras  (other  than  the 
Alamos)  converge  into  it  their  tributary  waters.  On  the  west  come  in 
successively  the  Pintada,  the  Rio  del  Gata,  the  Rio  de  la  Gara,  the 
Conejos,  the  San  Antonio  and  Piedra. 

These  streams,  six  or  eight  miles  asunder,  parallel,  equidistant,  fed 
by  the  snows  of  the  Sierra  3Embres,  have  abundant  waters,  very  fertile 
areas  of  land,  and  are  all  of  the  very  highest  order  of  beauty. 

Advancing  again  from  the  Rincon,  at  the  eastern  edge  of  the  plain 
along  the  base  of  the  Cordillera,  the  prodigious  conical  mass  of  the  Sierra 
Blanca  protrudes  like  a  vast  hemisphere  into  the  plain  and  blocks  the 
vision  to  the  direct  south.  The  road  describes  the  arc  of  a  semicircle 
around  its  base  for  thirty  miles  and  reaches  Fort  Garland. 

In  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Fort  Garland,  the  three  large  streams,  the 
Yuta,  the  Sangre  de  Cristo,  and  the  Trinchera,  descend  from  the  Cor- 
dillera, converge,  unite  a  few  miles  W3st,  and,  blending  themselves  in  the 
Trinchera,  flow  west  twenty-four  miles  into  the  Rio  del  Norte. 


80  THE  SYSTEM    OF    THE   PARCS. 

The  line  of  the  snowy  Cordillera,  hidden  behind  the  hulk  of  the  Sierra 
Blaiica,  here  again  reveals  itself  pursuing  its  regular  southeast  course  and 
direction.  Fourteen  miles  south  is  reached  the  town  of  San  Luis,  upon 
the  Cnlehra  River ;  seventeen  miles  farther  is  the  town  of  Costilla,  upon 
Costilla  River.  ' 

Fifteen  miles  fai'ther  the  town  of  Jiito  Colorado  is  reached :  eighteen  miles 
farther  onward  the  Arroyo  Hondo  (between  these  is  the  San  Cristoval)  ; 
from  the  Arroyo  Hondo  to  Taos  is  fourteen  miles ;  twenty  miles  beyond 
Taos  is  the  mountain  chain  whose  circle  towards  the  west  forms  the 
southern  mountain  barrier  which  encloses  the  Sail  Luis  Pare  in  that 
direction. 

The  San  Luis  Pare  is  then  an  immense  elliptical  bowl,  the  bed  of  a 
primeval  sea  which  has  been  drained :  its  bottom,  smooth  as  a  water  sur- 
face, and  concave,  is  9400  square  miles  in  area.  It  is  watered  by  tliirty- 
Jive  mountain  streams,  which,  descending  from  the  encircling  crest  of 
snow,  converge  nineteen  into  the  San  Luis  Lake,  the  rest  into  the  Rio  del 
Norte. 

An  extraordinary  symmetry  of  configuration  is  its  prominent  feature. 
The  scenery,  everywhere  sublime,  has  the  ever-changing  variety  of  the 
kaleidoscope.  Entirely  around  the  edge  of  the  plain,  and  closing  the 
junction  of  the  plain  with  the  mountain's  foot,  runs  a  smooth  glacis, 
exactly  resembling  the  sea-beach  which  accompanies  the  conjunction  of 
the  land  with  the  ocean. 

From  this  heacli  rise  continuously,  all  around  the  horizon,  the  great 
mountains,  elevating  their  heads  above  the  line  of  perpetual  snow.  On 
the  eastern  side  the  escarpment  of  the  Cordillera  rises  rapidly,  and  is 
abrupt ;  on  the  icestern  side  the  crest  of  the  Sierra  Mimhres  is  more  re- 
mote, having  the  interval  filled  with  ridges,  lessening  in  altitude  as  they 
descend  to  the  plain  of  the  pare. 

This  continuous  shelving  flank  of  the  Sierras,  completing  a  perfect 
amphitheatre,  has  a  superficial  area  equal  to  that  of  the  level  plain  which 
ii  envelopes,  and  gives  to  the  whole  enclosure  within  the  encircling  band 
of  snow  an  area  of  18,000  square  miles. 

At  an  elevation  of  five  or  six  thousand  feet  above  the  plain,  a  level  line 
upon  the  mountain  wall  marks  the  cessation  of  arborescence,  above  which 
naked  granite  and  snow  alone  are  seen. 

To  one  who  ascends  to  this  elevation  at  any  point,  the  whole  interior 
of  this  prodigious  amphitheatre,  displaying  an  elliptical  area  of  1 1 ,520,000 
acres,  is  scanned  by  the  eye  and  swept  in  at  a  single  glance.  Aided  by  a 
glass,  the  smallest  objects  scattered  over  the  immense  elliptical  area  beneath 
are  discernible  through  the  limpid,  brilliant,  and  translucent  atmosphere. 


THE  SYSTEM   OF    THE   PARCS.  81 

Two  facts  impress  tliemselves  upon  tlie  senses :  the  perfect  symmetry 
of  configuration  in  nature,  and  the  intense  variety  in  the  form  and  splen- 
dor of  the  landscape.  The  colors  of  the  sky  and  atmosphere  are  intensely 
vivid  and  gorgeous ;  the  dissolving  tints  of  light  and  shade  are  forever 
interchanging  ;  they  are  as  infinite  as  are  the  altering  angles  of  the  solar 
rays  in  his  diurnal  circuit. 

The  average  elevation  of  the  j^lain  above  the  sea-level  is  G400  feet. 
The  highest  peaks  have  an  altitude  of  16,000  feet  above  the  sea.  In  the 
serrated  rim  of  the  pare,  as  seen  from  the  plain,  projected  against  the 
canopy,  are  discernible  seventeen  peaks,  at  very  equal  distances  from  one 
another.  Each  one  differs  from  all  the  rest  in  some  peculiarity  of  shape 
and  position.  Each  one  identifies  itself  by  some  striking  beavity.  From 
the  snows  of  each  one  descends  some  considerable  river,  as  well  within  the 
pare,  as  outward  down  the  external  mountain  back. 

We  recognize,  therefore,  in  the  San  Luis  Pare  an  immense  elliptical 
basin,  enveloping  the  sources  of  the  Eio  Bravo  del  Norte.  It  is  isolated 
in  the  heart  of  the  continent,  1200  miles  from  any  sea.  It  is  mortised, 
as  it  were,  in  the  midst  of  the  vast  mountain  bulk,  where,  rising  gradu- 
ally from  the  oceans,  the  highest  altitude  and  amplitude  of  the  continent 
is  attained. 

This  pare  spreads  its  plain  from  36°  to  38°  30',  and  is  bisected  by  the 
106th  meridian.  Its  greatest  length  is  210  miles;  its  gi'eatest  width  is 
100  miles  ;  its  aggregate  approximate  area  is  18,000  square  miles. 

Such  being  the  geographical  position,  altitude,  and  peculiar  unique  con- 
figTiration,  these  features  suggest  the  inquiry  into  parallel  peculiarities  of 
meteorology,  geology^  physical  structure^  agriculture,  mineralogy,  and  the 
economy  of  labor. 

The  American  people  have  heretofore  developed  their  social  system  exclu- 
sively on  the  borders  of  the  two  oceans,  and  within  the  maritime  valleys 
of  moderate  altitude,  having  navigation  and  an  atmosphere  influenced  by 
the  sea.  To  them,  then,  the  contrast  is  complete  in  every  feature,  in  these 
high  and  remote  altitudes,  beyond  all  influence  of  the  ocean,  and  specially 
continental. 

There  is  an  identity  between  the  "  Valley  or  Pare  of  the  City  of 
Mexico"  and  the  San  Luis  Pare  which  ought  to  be  here  mentioned.  They 
are  similar  twin  basins  of  the  great  Plateau,  classifying  together  in  the 
physical  structure  of  the  continent.  Mexico  is  in  latitude  20°,  longitude 
99°,  and  has  an  altitude  of  7500  feet. 

The  -width  of  the  continent  is  here  575  miles  from  ocean  to  ocean,  and 
the  divergence  of  the  Cordilleras  is  275  miles,  which  here  is  the  width  of 
the  Plateau. 

6 


82  THE  SYSTEM    OF    THE   PARCS. 

At  the  39tli  degree,  the  continent  expands  to  a  width  of  3500  miles 
between  the  oceans ;  the  Cordilleras  have  diverged  1200  miles  asunder, 
and  the  Plateau  has  widened  to  the  same  dimensions.  In  harmony  with 
the  great  expansion  of  the  continent  are  all  the  details  of  its  interior 
structure. 

The  "  Pare  of  the  City  of  Mexico^  is  but  one-tenth  in  size  and  gran- 
deur as  compared  and  contrasted  with  the  San  Luis  Pare.  It  has  an  area, 
including  the  water  surface  of  five  lakes,  of  1,278,720  acres.  Of  identical 
anatomy,  the  former  is  a  pigmy  ;  the  latter  a  giant.  The  similitude  as  com- 
ponent parts  of  the  mountain  anatomy  is  in  all  respects  absolute,  as  is  also 
true  of  the  other  pares,  which  occupy  longitudinally  the  centre  of  the 
State  of  Colorado. 

In  METEOROLOGY  the  atmospheric  condition  of  the  San  Luis  pare,  like 
its  scenery,  is  one  of  constant  brilliancy,  both  by  day  and  night ;  obey- 
ing steady  laws,  yet  alternating  with  a  playful  methodical  fickleness. 

There  are  no  prolonged  vernal  or  autumnal  seasons.  Summer  and  win- 
ter divide  the  year.  Both  are  characterized  by  mildness  of  temperature. 
After  the  autumnal  equinox,  the  snows  begin  to  accumulate  on  the  moun- 
tains. After  the  vernal  equinox  they  dissolve.  The  formation  of  light 
clouds  upon  the  crest  of  the  Sierras  is  incessant. 

The  meridian  sun  retains  its  vitalizing  heat  around  the  year ;  at  mid- 
night prevails  a  corresponding  tonic  coolness.  The  clouds  are  wafted  away 
by  steady  atmospheric  currents  coming  from  the  west.  They  rarely  inter- 
rupt the  sunshine,  but,  refracting  his  rays,  imbue  the  canopy  with  a  shining 
silver  light,  at  once  intense  and  brilliant.  The  atmosphere  and  climate 
are  essentially  continental,  being  uninterruptedly  salubrious,  brilliant,  and 
tonic. 

The  flanks  of  the  great  mountains,  bathed  by  the  embrace  of  these  irri- 
gating clouds,  are  clad  with  great  forests  of  pine,  fir,  spruce,  hemlock, 
aspen,  oak,  cedar,  pinon,  and  a  variety  of  smaller  fruit-trees  and  shrubs, 
which  protect  the  sources  of  the  springs  and  rivulets. 

Among  the  forests,  alternate  mountain  meadows  of  luxuriant  and 
nutritious  grass.  The  ascending  clouds,  rarely  condensed,  furnish  little 
irrigation  at  the  depressed  elevation  of  the  plains,  which  are  destitute 
of  timber  but  clothed  in  grass.  These  delicate  grasses,  growing  rapidly 
during  the  annual  melting  of  the  snows,  cure  into  hay  as  the  aridity 
of  the  atmosphere  returns.  They  form  perennial  pastures,  and  supply 
the  winter  food  of  the  aboriginal  cattle,  everywhere  indigenous  and  abun- 
dant. 

An  infinite  variety  in  temper  and  temperature  is  suggested  as  flowing 
from  the  juxtaposition  of  extreme  altitudes  and  depressions ;  permanent 


THE  SYSTEM   OF    THE  PARCS.  83 

snows,  running  rivers,  and  the  concentric  courses  of  the  mountains  and 
rivers.  Nature  is  benignant  and  graceful  throughout  lier  whoki  plan,  and 
is  propitious  in  the  working  of  all  her  laws  and  in  every  element. 

The  longitudinal  Sierras  receive  and  absorb  the  glory  of  the  morning 
and  of  the  evening  sun  upon  their  flanks,  the  noontide  beams  upon  their 
summits;  they  cast  no  chilling  shadow. 

Within  the  bowl  of  the  pare,  the  heat  of  the  shining  sun  accumulates ; 
when  the  sun  has  set,  this  heated  atmosphere  ascends  ;  simultaneously  the 
colder  atmosphere  descends  from  the  engirdling  rim  of  snow.  These 
atmospheres  permeate  broadcast  the  one  the  other,  through  and  through  ; 
each  one  tempers  the  other  by  this  play  of  natural  transition. 

The  snows  of  the  altitudes  are  constantly  attacked  and  their  excessive 
accumulation  defeated  :  no  glaciers  form  to  enclose  the  rocks  and  veseta- 
tion,  as  in  a  perpetual  tomb.  The  heat  of  the  concave  plain  is  in  a  1  e 
manner  tempered  to  a  genial  standard  ;  irrigation  and  the  streams  are  con- 
stantly maintained ;  vegetation  constantly  and  as  uniformly  nurtured  o 
maturity. 

Storms  of  rain  and  wind  are  neither  frequent  nor  lasting.  The  air  is 
uniformly  dry,  having  a  racy  freshness  and  an  exhilarating  taste.  A 
soothing  serenity  is  the  prevailing  impression  upon  those  who  live  perpet- 
ually exposed  to  the  seasons.  Mud  is  never  anywhere  or  at  any  time 
/seen.  Moderation  and  concord  appear  to  result  from  the  presence  and  con- 
tact of  elements  so  various. 

The  critical  conclusions  to  which  a  rigid  study  of  nature  brings  the 
scrutinizing  mind  are  the  reverse  of  first  impressions.  The  multitudinous 
variety  of  nature  adjusts  itself  with  a  delicate  harmony  which  brings  into 
healthy  action  the  industrial  energies. 

There  is  no  use  for  the  practice  of  professional  pharmacy.  Chronic 
health  and  longevity  characterize  animal  life.  The  envelope  of  cloud- 
compelling  peaks :  the  seclusion  from  the  oceans :  the  rarity  of  the  air 
inhaled,  and  the  absence  of  humidity :  disinfect  the  earth,  the  water,  and 
the  atmosphere  of  exhalations  and  miasmas.  Health,  sound  and  uninter- 
rupted, stimulates  and  sustains  a  high  state  of  mental  and  physical  energy. 
All  of  these  are  burnished,  as  it  were,  by  the  perpetual  brilliancy  and 
salubrity  of  the  atmosphere  and  landscape ;  whose  unfailing  beauty  and 
tonic  taste  stimulate  and  iiivite  the  physical  and  mental  energies  to  per- 
petual activity. 

As  to  its  GEOLOGY  and  minerals,  the  San  Luis  Pare  is  in  the  highest 
degree  interesting  and  remarkable.  It  is  found  to  contain,  intermingled 
and  in  order,  a  complete  epitome  of  all  the  elements  of  which  geological 
science  and  research  take  note.     Its  intramural  locality  between  the  pri- 


84  THE  SYSTEM   OF    THE   I' ARCS. 

meval  crests  of  the  Cordillera,  on  the  east,  and  the  Sierra  Mimbres 
(here  called  the  '•  San  Juan' ),  on  the  %cest^  multiplies  this  variety  indef- 
initely. 

'Yh.Gse  primary  Sierras,  separated  by  the  pare,  face  one  another  in  full 
sight,  as  they  rear  their  flanks  I'roni  the  ojtposite  edges  of  the  concave 
plain.  The  successive  periods  and  stupendous  forces  which  have  expended 
themselves  to  produce  what  is  in  sight,  and  then  subsided  to  an  eternal 
rest,  each  particularly  manifests  itself. 

The  comb  of  t/ie.  Sierra  presents  the  prodigious  plates  of  jjj'Wict'a? 
porphyry  driven  up,  as  the  subsoil  of  a  furrow,  from  the  lowest  terrestrial 
crust  and  protruding  their  vertical  edges  toward  the  sky. 

The  summit,  yielding  to  the  corroding  forces,  presents  a  wedge  toward 
the  canopy ;  is  arranged  in  peaks  resembling  the  teeth  of  a  saw,  is  above 
all  arborescence,  and  is  either  clad  in  perpetual  snow,  or  is  bald  rock. 

Against  this  is  lapped  perpendicularly  the  second  stratum,  less  by  many 
thousand  feet  in  altitude,  its  top  forming  a  hirin  or  bench.  This  hench 
being  the  rended  edge  of  the  erupted  stratum,  softer  than  the  first  and 
receiving  the  debris  from  above,  has  a  deep,  fertile  soil,  a  luxuriant  alpine 
vegetation,  forests  of  fir  and  aspen,  and  is  the  highest  region  of  arborescence 
and  vegetable  growth. 

This  is  the  region  ol'  rocks,  where  the  metals,  especially  gold  and  silver^ 
abound  in  crevices  charged  and  infused  with  the  richest  ores.  It  is  from^. 
hence  that  the  gold  of  the  gulches  is  disintegrated  and  descends.  Here 
are  springs  of  water  and  the  sources  of  rivers.  The  timber  is  excellent 
and  the  pastures  of  various  grasses  luxuriant  and  inexhaustible.  Swept 
by  ascending  currents  of  vapor,  irrigation  is  constant. 

This  elevated  hencli  is  a  permanent  characteristic  of  the  mountain 
flank,  continuous  as  the  continent  itself ;  a  colossal  staircase,  whose  steps 
are  themselves  of  mountain  magnitude.  It  is  here,  at  these  surfaces  of 
contact  of  the  erupted  plates  of  the  lowest  terrestrial  crust,  that  the 
thread  of  the  ^^ gold  belt'  is  revealed  and  found.  From  this  thread,  as 
from  a  core  outward,  the  precious  metals  taper  in  quantity  and  become 
diluted  in  the  immensity  of  the  rocks,  as  a  hill  of  rock  salt  disappears 
to  the  eye,  dissolved  in  the  immensity  of  the  ocean. 

The  top  of  this  continuous  bencli  is  undulating,  broad,  and  occasionally 
crossed  by  transverse  ridges  and  the  chasms  of  water-courses  descending 
from  above.  The  front  flank  of  this  bench  forms  the  stupendous  escarp- 
ment (jf  the  mountains,  everywhere  lofty  and  precipitous.  It  is  cut  through 
by  innumerable  streams,  up  whose  gorges  access  to  the  upper  regions  is 
attained,  and  the  internal  contents,  the  intestines,  as  it  were,  of  the  rocks 
arc  revealed  to  sight  and  search. 


THE  SYSTEM   OF    THE    PARCS.  85 

Forming  the  pediment  of  tliis  stupendous  mural  escarpment  is  the 
second  hirm  or  bench  (being  the  lowest)  in  the  general  mountain  descent. 
Here  the  approaching  elevation  of  the  plain :  the  increase  in  size  of  the 
streams :  the  accumulating  debris  from  above,  and  the  increased  atmos- 
pheric abrasion  :  all  unite  to  obliterate  the  angularity  of  the  rocks,  and 
impair  the  striking  distinctness  of  formation. 

Forests  of  pine  and  deciduous  trees  prevail.  The  flora  and  vegetation 
is  abundant  and  various.  The  atmospheric  irrigatioh  becomes  uncertain, 
and  the  rocks  are  covered  with  soil  or  the  fragments  of  their  own  super- 
ficial destruction.  Immediately  following  is  the  broad  space  occupied  by 
the  fusion  of  the  mountain  base  and  the  plain  gently  ascending  to  meet 
it.  Here  is  a  profile  infinitely  indented  and  broken ;  alternately  the  slop- 
ing ridges  protrude  their  ribs  into  the  plain,  and  the  plain  advances  its 
valleys  between  them,  to  receive  the  streams.  This  is  the  region  of  the 
jylacers,  where  is  checked  in  its  descent  and  lodged  beneath  the  alluvial 
soil  the  free  gold  washed  down  by  torrents  from  the  overhanging  summits. 

This  sketch  of  the  normal  structure  and  configuration  of  the  Cordillera 
is  illustrated  by  a  checkered  list  of  details  in  its  minute  elements.  The 
primeval  rocks,  heated  to  incandescence,  rest  in  their  vertical  positions  un- 
altered from  their  original  form  ;  they  have  been  roasted  but  not  li(piefied. 

Original  strata  of  limestone  and  gypsum,  uplifted  on  high  but  not  de- 
stroyed, rest  upon  the  summits  as  a  torn  hat.  Gypsum,  limestone,  slates, 
clays,  shale,  earths,  and  salts  are  thus  found  near  the  highest  summits. 
The  decay  of  the  secondary  rocks  gives  extraordinary  fertility  to  the 
mountain  flanks,  and  to  the  alluvial  bottoms  below.  Hence  the  luxuriance 
of  the  arborescence,  the  pastures,  and  the  flora. 

The  altitude  of  the  summits  gathers  and  retains  the  snows,  whose  gla- 
ciers give  birth  to  innumerable  rivers.  These  gash  the  precipitous  flanks 
with  chasms,  up  which  roads  ascend.  The  composition  of  the  rocks  is 
here  re\^aled  ;  the  mysteries  of  their  interior  contents  are  unravelled,  and 
the  secretions  of  nature  subjected  to  the  human  eye  and  hand. 

Thus,  then,  erects  itself  the  primeval  Cordillera,  constructed  of  hori- 
zontal plates,  vertically  thrown  up  by  stupendous  volcanic  forces,  partially 
altered  and  roasted  by  incandescent  heat,  but  neither  destroyed  nor  recast 
in  form.  The  secondary  rocks  are  tossed  and  scattered  high  in  the  upper 
regions,  but  are  not  calcined  by  flame. 

The  metallic  ores  are  as  various  as  the  variety  of  the  rocks,  enriched  by 
heat  and  exposed  by  upheaval  and  corrosion..  No  lava,  no  pumice,  no 
obsidian,  nothing  of  melted  matter  from  the  Plutonic  region  is  seen.  This 
furrowing  of  the  terrestrial  crust  has  alone  occupied  and  exhausted  the 
stupendous  volcanic  throes  of  the  subterranean  world  of  fire. 


g(3  THE   SYSTEM   OF    THE  PA  It  OS. 

The  Sierra  Mimbres,  forming  the  western  envelope  of  the  Pare,  is 
not  dissimilar  to  the  Cordillera  in  its  origin,  composition,  and  configura- 
tion. Rising  from  the  level  of  the  great  Plateau,  it  is  of  inferior  bulk 
and  rank.  It  forms  the  backbone  from  whose  contrasted  flanks  descend 
the  waters  of  the  llio  del  Norte,  on  the  east,  and  the  llio  Colorado,  on 
the  west. 

Craters  of  extinct  volcanoes  are  numerous  ;  streams  of  lava,  once  liquid, 
abound ;  pt'.dricjaU  of  semi-crystalline  basalt  submerge  and  cover  the  val- 
ley into  which  they  have  flowed,  and  over  which  they  have  hardened. 

This  Sierra,  then,  has  a  general  direction  from  north  to  south,  corre- 
sponding with  the  lOiltli  meridian.  It  has  all  the  characteristics  in  minia- 
ture of  the  Cordillera,  but  is  checkered  and  interrupted  by  the  escape  of 
subterranean  fires,  having  areas  overflowed  and  buried  beneath  the  erupted 
current.  Where  the  nascent  springs  of  the  Rio  del  Norte  have  their  birth, 
the  Sierra  Mimbres  culminates  to  stupendous  peaks  of  perennial  snow, 
locally  named  Sierra  San  Juan. 

The  concave  plain  of  the  San  Luis  Pare,  begirt  by  this  elliptical  zone  of  the 
Sierras,  thus  capped  with  a  ragged  fringe  of  snow  projected  upward  against 
the  canopy,  is  the  receptacle  of  their  converging  waters.  It  is  a  bowl 
of  va.st  amplitude.  It  has  for  countless  ages  received  and  kept  the  sedi- 
mentary settlings  of  so  prodigious  a  circuit  of  the  Sierras.  It  is  builded 
up  with  every  variety  of  form,  structure,  and  geological  elements  elsewhere 
found  to  enter  into  the  architecture  of  nature. 

Hither  descend  the  currents  of  water,  of  the  atmosphere,  of  lava.  The 
rocks  rent  from  the  naked  pinnacles,  tortured  by  the  intense  vicissitudes 
which  assail  them ;  the  fragments  rolled  by  the  perpetual  pressure  of 
gravity  upon  the  descending  slopes ;  the  sands  and  soils  from  the  founda- 
tions of  rocks  and  clays  of  every  gradation  of  hardness ;  the  humus  of 
exjjired  forests  and  annual  vegetation  ;  elements  carbonized  by  transient 
tires ;  organic  decay  ;  all  these  elements  descend,  intermingle,  and  accu- 
mulate. 

77</,s  concave  plain  is,  then,  a  bowl  filled  with  sedimentary  drift,  covered 
with  s<jil,  and  varnished  over,  as  it  were,  with  vegetation.  The  northern 
dej/artmeiit  of  Jiincon,  closely  embraced  by  the  Sierras,  and  occupied  by 
the  San  liuis  Lake,  is  a  Viust  savanna  di'posited  from  the  filtration  of  the 
waters,  higlily  impregnated  with  the  mountain  dehrU.  Reneath  this  soil 
i.^i  a  eontinuouH  pavement  of  peat,  wliiili  inaiiitaius  the  saturation  of  the 
bUp«.-r-soil,  and  is  admirable  for  fuel. 

The  iniildlr  rt(jioii  of  the  jdaiii,  loiigitiuliiially,  dis2)lays  a  crater  of  the 
most  perfect  form.  The  interior  pit  has  a  diameter  of  twenty  miles,  from 
the  centre  of  which  is  seen  the  cireunif'ereiit  wall  forming  an  exact  circle, 


THE  SYSTEM   OF   THE  PAR  OS.  87 

and  in  height  five  hundred  feet.  This  wall  is  a  barranca,  composed  of 
lava,  pumice,  calcined  lime,  metamorphosed  sandstone,  vitrified  rocks,  and 
obsidian. 

This  circumferent  barranca  is  perforated  through  by  the  entrance  and 
departure  of  the  Rio  del  Norte,  the  Culebra,  and  the  Costilla  Rivers,  which 
traverse  the  northern,  western,  and  southern  edges  of  the  interior. 

By  this  and  other  forces  of  corrosion  this  barranca  is  on  three  sides  cut 
into  isolated  hills,  called  cerritos,  of  every  fantastic  form  and  of  extraor- 
dinary beauty  of  shape  and  tints.  The  bottom  of  the  crater  has  been 
filled  up  with  the  soils  resulting  from  the  decay  of  this  variety  of  material, 
introduced  by  the  currents  of  the  water  and  of  the  atmosphere.  It  is 
bevelled  by  these  forces  to  a  perfect  level ;  is  of  the  fattest  fertility,  and 
drained  through  the  porous  formation  which  underlies  it. 

From  this  crater  to  its  southern  rim,  a  distance  of  sixty-five  miles,  the 
Pare  expands  over  a  prodigious  pedric/al,  formed  from  it  in  the  period  of 
volcanic  activity.  This  pedrigal  retains  its  level,  and  is  perforated  by  the 
Rio  del  Norte,  whose  longitudinal  course  is  confined  in  a  profound  chasm 
or  caiion  of  perpendicular  walls  of  lava,  increasing  to  the  depth  of  1200 
feet,  where  it  debouches  from  the  jaws  of  this  gigantic  flood  of  lava,  near 
the  village  of  La  Joya,  in  New  Mexico. 

Such  are  the  extraordinary  forms  and  stupendous  dimensions  with 
which  nature  here  salutes  the  eye  and  astonishes  the  imagination.  The  ex- 
pansion of  the  lava  is  all  to  the  south,  following  the  descent  toward  the  sea. 
Toward  the  north,  repelled  by  the  ascent,  are  waves  demonstrating  the 
defeated  efi'ort  to  climb  the  mountain  base. 

Such  is  an  imperfect  sketch  of  this  wonderful  amphitheatre  of  the  Sier- 
ras. Its  physical  structui-e,  infinitely  complex,  exhibiting  all  the  elements 
of  nature  piled  in  contact,  yet  set  together  in  order  and  arranged  in  har- 
mony ;  its  cloud-compelling  Sierras,  of  stern  primeval  matter  and  pro- 
portions ;  its  concave  basin  of  fat  fertility ;  its  atmosphere  of  dazzling 
brilliancy,  tonic  temperature,  and  gorgeous  tints ;  its  arable  and  pastoral 
excellence,  grand  forests,  and  multitude  of  streams ;  its  infinite  variety  of 
mines  and  minerals,  embracing  the  whole  catalogue  of  metals,  rocks,  clays, 
salts,  and  fuel  ;  its  capacity  to  produce  grain,  flax,  wool,  hides,  vegetables, 
fruits,  meat,  poultry,  and  dairy  food ;  the  compact  economy  of  arrange- 
ment which  blends  and  interfuses  all  these  varieties ;  these  combine  to  pro- 
voke, stimulate,  and  reward  the  taste  for  physical  and  mental  labor. 

Entrance  and  exit  over  the  rim  of  the  pare  is  everywhere  made  easy  by 
convenient  passes.  Roads  re-enter  upon  it  from  all  points  of  the  com- 
pass and  every  portion  of  the  surrounding  continent.  These  are  not  ob- 
structed at  any  season. 


88  TIIK   SYSTEM    OF    THE   PARCS. 

On  the  northis  the  Puncho  Pass,  leading  to  the  Upper  Arkansas  River, 
and  into  the  Soutli  Pare.  On  the  east,  the  Moscha  and  Sangre  di  Cristo 
Passes  debouch  immediately  upon  the  Great  Plains.  On  the  south  is  the 
channel  of  the  Ilio  del  Norte.  On  the  west,  easy  roads  diverge  to  the 
rivers  Chamas,  San  Juan,  and  toward  Arizona.  In  the  northtvest  the 
Cocha-to-pee  opens  to  the  Great  Salt  Lake  and  the  Pacific.  Convenient 
thoroughfares  and  excellent  roads  converge  from  all  points,  and  diverge 
with  the  same  facility. 

The  Si/stem  of  the  four  pares,  extending  to  the  north,  indefinitely  ampli- 
fies and  rej^eats  all  that  characterizes  the  San  Luis  Pare.  Smaller  in  size 
and  less  illustrated  by  variety,  each  one  of  the  three  by  itself  lingers  be- 
hind the  San  Luis,  but  is  an  equal  ornament  in  the  same  family.  Their 
graceful  forms,  their  happy  harmony  of  contact  and  position,  make  their 
aggregated  attractions  the  fascinating  charm  and  glory  of  the  American 
continent. 

The  abundance  and  variety  of  hot  springs,  of  every  modulation  of  tem- 
perature, is  very  great.  These  are  also  equalled  by  waters  of  medicinal 
virtues.  It  has  been  the  paradise  of  the  aboriginal  stock,  elsewhere  so 
abundant  and  various.  Fish,  water-fowl,  and  birds  of  game  and  song  and 
brilliant  plumage  frequent  the  streams  and  groves.  Animal  life  is  infi- 
nite in  quantity  and  abundantly  various. 

The  Atmospheric  currents,  which  sweep  away  every  exhalation  and 
all  traces  of  malaria  and  miasma,  have  an  undeviating  rotation.  These 
currents  are  necessarily  vertical  in  direction  and  equable  in  force,  alter- 
nating smoothly  as  land  and  sea  currents  of  the  tropical  islands  of  the 
ocean.  The  silence  and  serenity  of  the  atmosphere  are  not  ruffled  ;  the 
changing  temperature  alone  indicates  the  motion  of  nature. 

All  around  the  cZ^};//ca/ circumference  of  the  plain,  following,  as  it  were, 
its  shore,  and  bending  with  the  indented  base  of  the  mountains,  is  an  un- 
interrupted road  of  unparalleled  excellence.  This  circuit  is  five  hundred 
miles  in  length,  and  is  graced  with  a  landscape  of  uninterrupted  grandeur, 
variety,  and  beauty. 

On  the  one  hand  the  mountains,  on  the  other  hand  the  concave  plain 
diversified  with  groves  of  alamos  and  volcanic  cerritos.  At  short  inter- 
vals of  five  or  ten  miles  asunder,  are  crossed  the  swift  running  currents 
and  fertile  meadows  of  the  converging  mountain  streams.  Hot  springs 
mingle  their  warm  water  with  all  these  streams,  which  swarm  with  delicate 
fish  and  water-f(jwl. 

The  works  of  the  beaver  and  otter  are  everywhere  encountered,  and 
■water-power  for  machinery  is  of  singularly  universal  distribution.  Agri- 
culture classifies  itself  \i\io  p)astor(d  and  mahli';  the  former  subsisting  on 


THE  SYSTEM   OF    THE   PARCS.  89 

the  perennial  grasses ;  the  latter  updu  irrigation  everywhere  attained  by 
the  streams  and  artificial  azequias. 

This  concave  configuration  and  symmetry  of  structure  is  remarkably 
propitious  to  economy  of  labor  and  production,  favored  by  the  juxtaposi- 
tion and  variety  of  material,  by  the  short  and  easy  transport,  and  by  the 
benignant  atmosphere. 

The  supreme  excellence  of  position,  structure,  and  productions  thus 
grouped  within  the  system  of  the  Parcs  op  Colorado,  occupying  the 
heart  of  the  continental  home  of  the  American  people,  is  conclusively  dis- 
cernible. Here  is  the  focus  of  the  mountains,  of  the  great  rivers,  and 
of  the  metals  of  the  continent. 

The  great  rivers  have  here  their  extreme  sources,  which  interlock  and 
form  innumerable  and  convenient  passes  from  sea  to  sea".  From  these  they 
descend  smoothly  to  both  oceans  by  continuous  gradations.  The  parcs 
occupy  the  fortieth  decree,  and  ofier  the  facilities  for  a  lodgment  in  force, 
at  the  highest  altitude.  Here  the  supreme  divide  of  the  continent  exists, 
half-way  between  the  trough  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  Pacific  shore. 
Being  immediately  approachable  over  the  Great  Plains,  their  mines  of 
precious  metals  are  the  nearest  in  the  world  to  the  social  masses  of  the 
Amei'ican  people  and  to  their  great  commercial  cities.  Their  accessibility 
is  perfect. 

All  the  elements  of  a  perfect  economy,  food,  health,  geographical  posi- 
tion, innumerable  mines  of  the  richest  ores  and  every  variety,  erect,  assist, 
and  fortify  one  another.  Within  and  around  this  pare,  so  grand  in  dimen- 
sions and  harmonious  in  structure  and  locality,  is  preparing  itself  the 
mining  laboratory  of  the  world. 

The  rare  economy  in  architecture,  climate,  inter-oceanic  convenience, 
prolific  food,  miscellaneous  materials  and  metals,  constitute  and  locate  here 
the  paragon  indeed  of  all  geographical  positions. 

The  San  Luis  Pare  has  twenty-four  thousand  population.  These  people 
are  of  the  Mexican- American  race.  Since  the  conquest  of  Cortez,  a.d. 
1520,  the  Mexican  people  have  acquired  and  adopted  the  language,  and  in 
modified  forms,  the  political  and  social  systems  of  their  European  rulers. 
A  taste  for  seclusion  has  always  characterized  the  ahoriginal  masses,  height- 
ened by  the  geographical  configuration  of  their  peculiar  territory. 

Upon  the  Plateau,  elevated  7000  feet  above  the  oceans,  and  encased 
within  an  uninterrupted  barrier  of  snow,  reside  9,000,000  of  homogeneous 
people.  An  instinctive  terror  of  the  ocean,  of  the  torrid  heats  and  mala- 
rious atmosphere  of  the  nari'ow  coast  on  either  sea,  perpetually  haunts  the 
natives  of  the  Plateau. 

To  them  navigation  is  unknown,  and  maritime  life  is  abhorrent.      The 


k 


90  THE  SYSTEM   OF   THE  PAIiCS. 

industrial  energies  of  the  jjeople,  always  active  and  elastic,  and  alwaj'S 
recoilinii-  from  the  sea,  have  expanded  to  the  north,  following  the  longi- 
tudinal direction  of  the  great  rivers.  TJm  column  of  progress  advances 
from  south  to  north  ;  it  ascends  the  Rio  Bravo  del  Norte ;  it  has  reached 
and  permanently  occupies  the  southern  half  of  the  San  Luis  Pare. 

At  the  same  moment  the  column  of  the  American  people,  advancing  in 
force  across  the  middle  belt  of  the  continent,  from  east  to  west,  is  solidly 
lodged  upon  the  eastern  flank  of  the  Cordillera,  and  is  everywhere  enter- 
ing the  pares  through  its  passes. 

These  two  American  populations,  all  of  the  Christian  faith,  here  meet 
front  to  front,  harmonize,  intermarry,  and  reinvigorate  the  blended  mass 
with  the  peculiar  domestic  accomplishments  of  each  other. 

The  Mexican  contributes  his  primitive  skill,  inherited  for  centuries 
Avithout  change,  in  the  manipulations  of  pastoral  and  mining  industry, 
and  in  the  tillage  of  the  soil  b}'  artificial  irrigation.  The  American  adds 
to  these  machinery  and  the  intelligence  of  expansive  progress.  The  grafted 
stock  has  the  sap  of  both. 

As  the  coming  continental  railways  hasten  to  bind  together  our  people 
isolated  on  the  seas,  A  longitudinal  railway  of  2000  miles  will  unite 
with  these  in  their  middle  course,  bisecting  the  Territory,  States,  and  cities 
of  10,000,000  of  affiliated  people.  This  will  fuse  and  harmonize  the  iso- 
lated populations  of  our  continent  into  one  peoj^le,  in  all  the  relations  of 
commerce,  affinity,  and  concord. 


CHAPTER   IX. 


THERMAL     AMERICA. 


To  the  American  who  assembles  icttMn  his  mental  glance  every  detail  of 
our  entire  country,  from  a  position  correctly  selected  and  rightly  under- 
stood, a  vision  of  unparalleled  splendor  is  unveiled. 

There  is  revealed  to  him  a  nascent  supremacy  over  all  things  that  are 
passed,  an  ascendency  to  which  futurity  can  evolve  no  hopeful  rival. 

It  is  here  that  the  pre-eminently  divine  gifts,  vouchsafed  to  the  Ameri- 
can People  by  God  through  Nature^  speak  out  and  enforce  from  every 
heart  a  pious  prayer  of  thanksgiving. 

Here  are  united,  in  special  magnitude,  a  variety  of  new  poicers  andy/Wt 
forces.  All  of  these  combine  to  dictate,  and  are  auspicious  to,  the  struc- 
ture of  a  political  society  of  vast  dimensions,  upon  the  highest  level 
attainable  by  energetic  intelligence, — order  and  mental  culture. 

Eminent  among  these  gifts  is  Thermal  Science. 

If  a  navigator,  in  the  mid-ocean  and  beneath  the  equator,  shall  ascend 
vertically  into  the  atmosphere,  as  in  a  balloon,  he  will  experience  a  fall  of 
one  degree  of  annual  mean  heat,  as  evidenced  by  the  thermometer,  at  the 
altitude  of  259  feet. 

At  or  about  an  altitude  of  20,000  feet,  he  will  find  the  temperature  of 
perpetual  zero^  where  animal  life  and  vegetation  cease. 

If  he  shall  then  weigh  anchor  and  sail  along  a  meridian  line  to  the 
north  pole,  it  will  be  necessary  to  traverse  a  full  degree  of  latitude^  69^ 
miles,  to  experience  along  the  sea-surface  the  same  reduction  of  heat  as 
has  been  encountered  at  259  feet  of  vertical  altitude. 

We  will  learn  from  these  facts  the  special  combinations  of  climatic 
changes  peculiar  to  and  peculiarly  favorable  to  North  America. 

One  who  travels^by  a  meridian  line  along  the  concave  of  the  great  cal- 
careovs  jjlain,  from  Cuba  to  the  Arctic  Sea,  crosses  in  regular  succession 
the  sugar  belt,  the  cotton  belt,  the  belt  of  Indian  corn,  hemp,  tobacco, 
cattle,  and  swine,  the  wheat  belt,  oats,  rye,  roots,  the  grasses,  and  barley. 
At  length,  the  perpetual  Arctic  frosts  stop  all  vegetation,  all  culture,  and 
consequently  all  habitation.      Such  are  the  palpable  changes  ascribable  to 

91 


92  THERMAL    AMERICA. 

latitude^  upon  the  continental  area  of  su)all  altitude  above  the  sea,  and 
within  the  maritiine  climates. 

If  the  same  traveller,  facing  to  the  left  at  the  40th  degree  of  latitude, 
adhering  to  this  line,  climbs  the  gradual  ascent  of //<e  Great  Plains,  sur- 
mounts the  Snowy  Northern  Andes,  and  reaches  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
he  encounters  a  similar  succession  of  belts  of  vegetation  and  animal  life, 
greatly  compressed  in  arrangement,  and  ascribable  to  increasing  vertical 
altitude. 

Thermal  Science,  assisted  by  its  handmaid  meteorology,  explains  for 
us  the  atinoypheres  which  successively  enveloj)  the  globe  of  the  earth 
outside,  handles  them,  and  fixes  them  without  obscurity. 

The  globe  is  closely  enveloped  by^  a  shell  of  water,  as  the  pulj)  of  an 
orange  by  its  rind,  through  which  the  continents  and  islands  elevate  and 
protrude  themselves.  This  is  the  aqueous  atmosjyliere.  Visible  to  the 
eye,  dense  and  viscid,  the  range  of  its  elasticity  is  measured  by  the  sur- 
face undulations,  by  the  disturbances  caused  by  winds  and  cyclones,  and 
by  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  tides  against  its  shores. 

Enveloping  this,  and  external  to  it,  is  tlie  AERIAL  atmosphere.  This  is 
invisible  to  the  eye,  and  highly  elastic.  Into  it  ascend  the  vapors  ex- 
haled from  the  surface  of  the  sea  and  the  land.  These  vapors,  variously 
condensed,  float  through  this  atmosphere  in  the  form  of  clouds,  and  thus 
reveal  themselves  to  vision. 

At  an  altitude  of  4000  feet  this  aerial  atmosphere  terminates,  being 
as  the  second  rind  of  an  orange  enveloping  and  external  to  the  first.  It 
ceases  here  as  absolutely  as  does  the  aqueous  atmosphere  under  our  feet. 

External  to  the  aerial,  and  similarly  enveloping  it,  is  the  ethereal 
atmosphere.  This  has  the  position  and  similitude  of  a  tliird  rind  to  an 
orange.  Here  the  region  of  space  is  approached,  where  animal  life,  vege- 
tation, and  clouds  cease  to  exist. 

Physical  geography  defines  those  portions  of  the  earth's  surface  within 
the  aerial  atmosphere,  to  possess  a  maritime  climate ;  those  portions 
within  the  ethereal  atmosphere  to  possess  a  continental  climate. 

It  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  I02d  meridian,  the  eastern  boundary 
of  Colorado,  where  the  altitude  of  4000  feet  is  attained  and  the  region  of 
the  continental  climate  is  approached  and  entered.  It  is  clear,  then,  that 
the  whole  prodigious  system  of  the  North  American  Andes  is  within 
the  ethereal  atmosphere,  and  in  the  region  of  the  continental  climate. 

Upon  the  region  of  the  piedniont  which  extends  casticard  from  the 
abrupt  base  of  the  Cordilleras,  arc  discernible  counterpart  phenomena  as 
occur  upon  the  shores  of  the  oceans  and  illustrated  1)y  their  tides. 

The  highly  clastic  aerial  atmosphere  is  sometimes,  by  external  pressure, 


THERMAL    AMERICA.  93 

flouded  up  to  tlic  very  base  of  the  Cordillera.  This  causes  the  concave 
surface  of  the  ethereal  atmosphere,  also  highly  clastic,  to  ascend.  Alter- 
nately, the  aerial  atmosphere  ebbs  back  to  its  normal  level.  Thus  is 
experienced,  within  this  margin,  embracing  the  conjunction  of  these  two 
atmospheres,  an  alternate  play,  as  in  depi-essed  lands  which  are  overflowed 
and  then  left  dry  by  the  tides  of  the  sea. 

We  have  seen  that  the  North  American  Andes  are  longitudinal  in  their 
direction,  receiving  favorably  the  heating  power  of  the  sun  on  all  their 
flanks  and  every  summit.  The  outflanking  Cordilleras  exalt  their  su- 
preme heads  above  the  line  of  perpetual  frost.  They  winnow  from'  the 
air  all  the  vapors  of  the  maritime  world,  and  totally  exclude  their  entrance 
within,  on  to  the  Plateau.  Carbonic  acid,  hydrogen,  nitrogen,  are  left 
below.  Pungent,  tonic,  health-  and  life-bestowing  oxygen  remains  to 
possess  unadulterated  and  supreme  dominion. 

These  favorable  modifications  of  the  thermal  laws,  acting  locally,  but 
over  a  stupendous  area,  give  and  combine  warmth,  dryness,  a  diminution 
of  atmospheric  jjressure,  a  sun  never  clouded,  serenity,  and  profuse  arbo- 
rescence  and  vegetation. 

These  influences  are  expanded  up  and  down  the  protected  Plateau  :  they 
overleap  the  naiTow  limits  which  elsewhere  restrict  \he isothermal  zodiac: 
they  push  the  favorable  conditions  of  the  isothermal  axis,  to  the  north 
and  to  the  south,  up  and  down  the  Plateau,  in  both  directions,  to  its  ex- 
treme limits. 

A  sublime  architecture  acts  through  the  vision.  It  exalts  the  heart 
and  refines  the  taste  of  man.  Nature  is  graceful,  winning,  and  uninter- 
ruptedly friendly  in  every  feature.  Now  the  vertical  thermal  belts,  side 
by  side  with  the  horizontal  belts,  compressed  as  a  rainbow,  are  joined,  and 
the  two  thermal  scales  blend  their  areas.  They  expand  from  one  another, 
augmenting  manifold  the  auspicious  thermal  varieties. 

The  stupendous  mountain  mass  is  elevated  above  the  maritime  and 
into  the  ethereal  atmosphere.  The  battlements  and  summits  present  con- 
secutively every  front  to  the  moi'ning,  to  the  meridian,  and  to  the  de- 
scending sun.  The  fire  of  the  sun  perpetually  pours  down  his  heat  through 
the  pungent  air  and  unclouded  canopy.  This  warmth  condenses  and 
exerts  a  favorable  power  round  the  year. 

The  area  of  most  auspicious  isothermal  warmth  is  here  expanded  to  the 
most  immense  dimensions  and  comprehensive  variety.  The  surface  is 
most  favorably  undulating.  It  is  burnished  Avith  dissolving  colors  of  the 
richest  hues,  and  checkered  with  bewitcliing  scenery. 

The  latitude  is  most  favorable.  The  longitude  is  equally  so.  From 
this  centre  all  the  crand  rivers  radiate  and  descend  uninterruptedly  to  all 


0-i  THERMAL    AMERICA. 

the  ciixaunfliK'nt  oceans,  everywhere  concealed  froiu  .sight  beyond  the 
encircling  horizon. 

All  iitliahitahh  altitudes  succeed  one  another.  They  are  gracefully 
blended  and  combined,  as  are  the  streaks  of  the  rainbow.  They  imme- 
diately touch  and  rest  upon  one  another.  All  altitudes  are  equally  open 
for  individual  election. 

This  splendid  structure  and  these  prolific  gifts  are  prophetic  of  a  so- 
ciety inspired  by  mental  energies  of  the  highest  standard  and  reinforced 
with  inii)regnable  power. 

Here  is  discernible  a  trenchant  contrast  and  deficiency  in  architectural 
economy.  The  European  basins  of  the  Mediterranean,  the  Baltic,  the 
Pontic  and  Propontic  have  their  calcareous  bottoms  buried,  as  in  a 
tomb,  beneath  a  sterile  salt  expanse.  The  intervening  and  rugged  moun- 
tain lands  only  are  left  dry  and  inhabitable.  This  lafitudincd  expanse 
of  sea,  prolonged  from  Gibraltar  to  the  Caucasus,  incorrigibly  isolated 
Europe  from  tropical  Africa.  This  latter  and  neighboring  continent  has 
remained  thus  cut  off,  unused  and  undeveloped. 

The  people  of  the  northern  shore  circumnavigate  the  globe  to  bring 
their  groceries  from  the  Oriental  and  Western  Indies. 

The  thermal  laics  have  here  operated  since  the  birth  of  time  with  un- 
relenting hostility,  and  superadded  their  blasting  power  to  the  unfriendly 
anatomy  of  the  land  and  water. 

In  America,  the  prolonged  Plateau  surrounds  .and  envelops  the  Mex- 
ican and  Caribbean  Seas.  It  carries  the  isothermal  warmth  and  railways 
into  the  very  nest  of  tropical  productions.  Thus  the  widest  extremes 
are  propitiously  combined  in  a  single  neighborhood  and  united  in  one 
domestic  home. 

A  special  feature  of  this  vast  expanse  within  the  continental  climate  is 
pastoral  agriculture.  Here  the  dryness  and  the  unfailing  sunshine  curl 
the  grasses  into  hay  upon  the  ground  where  they  grow.  Preserved  thus 
from  decay,  they  furnish  winter  food,  dispen.sing  with  the  labor  of  harvest. 

For  arable  cultm-e,  which  has  the  highest  grade  of  excellence  and  the 
widest  range  in  quality,  variety,  and  quantity,  a  corresponding  economy 
is  discernible  in  the  universal  necessity  and  use  of  artificial  irrigation.  The 
waters,  coming  from  the  snows,  descend  from  above.  Labor  is  not  har- 
a.ssed  by  mud  or  by  the  hostile  interruptions  incidental  to  a  fickle  canopy. 
The  sloping  surfaces  of  land  and  water  are  neighborly  and  friendly  to  each 
other:  this  relation  is  continuous  from  the  highest  altitude  to  the  seas. 

All  civilized  populations  have  been  intensely  sensitive  to  climatic 
power,  and  instinctively  oblique  from  excessive  heat,  cold,  and  damp. 

The  latitudin  il  backbone  which  bisects  the  Asiatic-European  continent 


THERMAL   AMERICA.  95 

from  east  to  vrst  receives  the  he;iting  power  of  the  sun,  atuJ  all  of  it, 
upon  its  southern  slope  alone. 

The  northern  slope,  assigned  to  perpetual  shade,  receives  as  perpetu- 
ally, without  mitigation,  the  hyperborean  rigor.  The  animating  sun-heat, 
which  is  concentrated  and  condensed  without  the  concave  amphitheatre  of 
North  America,  is  here  scattered  and  dissipated  by  a  hostile  convex  roof. 
The  omnipotent  power  of  the  benignant  thermal  forces  is  here  universally 
negative,  chilling,  and  hostile. 

The  mental  forces  and  speculations  of  the  antique  world  have  been  ex- 
clusively restricted  to  the  contemplation  o^ pigmy  states.  The  anarchy  of 
force  has  uniformly  accompanied  a  convex  geography  of  incoherent  frag- 
ments. A  sour,  saturated  soil ;  a  dismal  atmosphere  exclusively  maritime  ; 
a  febrile  thermal  condition ;  monotony :  all  these  have  incubated  over 
society  universally  and  with  unrelieved  perpetuity.  Society,  dwai'fed  by 
the  absence  of  any  generous  inspirations,  has  been  sluggish  and  vegetated 
without  elasticity. 

Political  and  social  science  have  found  it  impossible  to  have  birth. 
To  the  American,  experiences  sought  for  and  derived  from  the  antique 
world  are  deceptive,  sombre,  and  discouraging.  War,  monarchy,  and  sub- 
missive multitudes  only  are  seen.  Civil  liberty  has  never  permanently 
established  itself  Societies  have  grown  to  be  polished  and  enervated 
without  emerging  from  semi-savage  barbarism. 

There  is  discernible  in  the  temper  of  the  generation  of  our  statesmen 
who  are  now  passed  away,  and  who  have  seen  our  country  saddened  by  civil 
strife,  an  idolatrous  adulation  of  Europe;  a  proclivity  to  view  with  trepida- 
tion and  to  dwarf  the  aspiring  genius  and  elastic  energies  of  the  pioneer 
people.  To  bridle  the  continental  mission  of  the  North  American  people 
and  curb  it  to  the  sway  and  dimensions  of  the  Atlantic  shore,  to  restrict 
it  to  this  geographical  selvage,  has  not  ceased  to  be  a  cherished  policy 
with  them. 

The  grand  North  American  Andes,  and  the  71010  to  ws  domestic  Pacific 
Ocean,  have  received  only  faint  appreciation  and  acknowledgment ;  post- 
poned in  development  from  insufficient  and  stingy  legislation  or  by  un- 
friendly silence. 

Thermal  Science,  coming  to  be  rightly  understood  and  to  be  ac- 
cepted, offers  itself  to  correct  the  general  judgment  and  to  rectify  and  re- 
inforce the  conquering  forces  of  sound  progress.  The  grand  pioneer  army, 
having  solidly  established  its  lodgments  around  the  whole  encircling  rim 
of  our  national  territory,  gathers  its  columns  faces  inwards,  assumes  a 
concentric  movement,  departs  from  the  seas  and  from  river-lines  to  con- 
verge on  the  centre.     These  columns  unite  by  their  flanks.     They  per- 


90  THERMAL    AMERICA. 

petiially  iiiereaso  in  nunibor?;,  pressure,  ami  activity.  The  iiisti)tct  of 
gravitation,  enlightened  by  thermal  scien'CE,  gains  veloeity,  steadi- 
ness, and  victory  Avithout  tumult. 

The  traces  of  geographical  anarchy  abate  rapidly.  They  are  about 
finally  to  be  extinguished  forever,  by  the  ripening  movement  which  will 
soon  re-annex  to  us  the  area  of  the  Mexican  Eepublic,  on  the  one  flank ; 
the  whole  area  of  the  Canadas,  on  the  other  flank. 

All  that  is  necessary  for  this  achievement,  long  in  preparation,  ap- 
proaches its  accomplishment.  To  fold  to  us  these  domestic  wings,  too  long 
stretched  out  and  segregated  from  us,  will  fill  out  to  the  ocean  bounds, 
and  occupy  through  all  its  solid  dimensions,  as  well  the  stupendous 
architecture  of  our  country  as  the  perfectly  graceful  anatomy  of  its 
compact  expanse. 

It  is  the  discovery  of  inexhaustible  precious  metals  within  a  propitious 
thermal  zone  that  gives  perpetual  success  to  the  Gold  Fever.  This 
defines  itself  as  "  the  indefinite  supply  of  sound  money  for  the  people, 
by  their  own  individual  and  voluntary  labor."  This  is  the  discovery  of 
the  profound  want  and  necessity  of  human  society.  It  is  the  final  and 
exhausting  solution  of  the  heretofore  enigmatical  question,  '•  What  is 
the  function  and  what  is  the  power  of  finance  in  human  org-anized  socie- 
ties ?"  The  FIXANCIAL  PROBLEM,  essential  to  the  healthy  gi-owth  of  every 
other  problem  in  the  scheme  of  civilization,  is  revealed,  identified,  and 
solved. 

The  land  area  of  the  Territory  of  Colorado  is  75,r00,('00  of  acres.  To 
reduce  this  area  to  use  and  private  possession  ref[uires  §100,000,000  to 
be  paid  by  the  people  to  the  Federal  government.  This  immense  sum  is 
wrung  from  the  meritorious  and  self-sacrificing  labor  of  the  pioneers — it 
is  all  carried  forth  and  disbursed  elsewhere.  This  is  a  gabel  tax  ;  uncon- 
stitutional, accumulative  over  all  other  taxes,  crippling,  and  atrocious.  If 
this  sum  may  be  retained  among  those  who  pay  it,  the  gain  will  be  to 
them  8200.000,000.  It  may  be  retained  to  reinforce  and  enhance  the 
creative  power  of  the  pioneer  army. 

If  the  State  of  Colorado,  and  other  similar  Territories,  be  sanctioned  and 
self-government  established,  this  may  with  ease  be  achieved.  Let  the 
system  of  land  surveys  and  the  price  be  untouched,  but  the  payments 
enter  the  State  treasury.  The  disbursements  shall  be  restricted  to  the 
construction  of  a  complete  net-work  of  railways ;  to  universal  and  per- 
petual education ;  and  to  fit  the  lands  for  the  production  of  food,  by 
canals  of  irrigation  and  drainage. 

Within  the  State,  integiity  will  be  sternly  enforced.  These  generous 
public  benefits  will  be  paid  for  and  constructed  by  the  people  themselves. 


THERMAL  AMERICA.  97 

They  will  be  perpetually  owned  by,  and  used  and  guarded  for  and  under 
the  will  and  supervision  of,  the  people. 

Thus  universal  railways  come  into  existence.  The  lands  are  universally 
cultivated.  Transportation  and  travel  fuse  nations  and  populations. 
Civilization  and  ciric  order  and  cine  discipline,  for  all.  becomes  possi- 
ble and  erects  itself.  It  maintains  universal  authority  and  power.  Labor 
efiuitoLly  rules  itself  and  the  political  and  financial  rohher  is  permanently 
dethroned. 

This  public  policy  will  combine  idle  populations  and  irMe  lands,  to 
mutually  enrploy  each  other  and  to  fire  up  the  stacmant  torpidity  of  both. 
It  may  be  tran.splanted  into  Siberia  and  into  all  the  continents  and  islands 
of  the  seas. 

Military  organizatiryn.  essentially  monarchical  and  which  but  partially 
embraces  or  employs  a  v:h/jle  population,  will  go  out  of  existence. 

Industrirxl  organiza.tion.  which  employs  all  labor,  uniformly  and 
continually,  will  displace  and  supersede  it. 

Behold,  then,  in  the  novel  and  auspicious  thermal  splendor  of  Xorth 
America^  united  with  its  PHYSICAL  COXFIGURATIOX  and  POSITIOX.  the 
birth  of  neic  and  overwhelming  power?  and  fresh  forces  ! 

The  existence  of  these,  or  their  combination,  has  heretofore  been  im- 
possible or  unthought  of  iu  human  experience.  These  fresh  powers  and 
forces  suddenly  unveil  themselves,  ferment  and  modify  all  societies  and 
reverse  their  fronts.  They  dictate  a  cosTnopolitan  comity  and  assume  an 
overwhelming  sway. 

By  the  Land  System,  the  idle  lands  throughout  the  world  are  meas- 
ured off  in  the  small.  They  are  made  attainable  for  starving  multitudes 
and  oppressed,  laborers.  An  avarice  for  the  possession  and  conversion 
of  them  to  use  in  this  form  is  kindled  throughout  all  populations. 

The  Gold  Fever  is  the  indefinite  production  of  sound  money  by  the 
individual  and  voluntary  labor  of  the  people.  This  is  free  money ;  the 
multiplication  of  money  capitals  in  the  small,  independent  and  inrlividual 
in  form,  abundant  in  quantity,  and  prospectively  indefinite. 

Government  credit,  rightly  understood,  reduced  to  discipline  and  am- 
plified universally,  becomes  available  to  combine  and  utilize  these  popular 
elements. 

The  California  Gold  Fever  had  its  invention  and  birth  in  18-18.  It 
has  in  a  decade  of  years  transplanted  itself  to  Australasia  and  to  Pike's 
Peak.  It  has  permeated  mankind  as  an  electric  fluid,  to  animate,  to 
regenerate,  to  exalt  humanity.  It  permanently  fortifies  progress  with 
impregnable  power  and  activity. 

Its  inspiring  democratic  genius  has.   within  a  quarter  of  a  ceniury. 


98  THERMAL   AMERICA. 

covered  the  continents  witli  railways  and  with  telegraphs.  It  economizes 
navigation  by  its  reduction  to  steam  ferries  upon  the  oceans  and  tele- 
graphic cables  upon  its  profound  bed. 

Immortal  railways  extend  themselves,  to  become  a  universal  system,  over 
all  the  land  of  the  globe  !  The  dwarfing  power,  the  waste,  the  piratical 
temper,  the  monopoly  of  sea  navigation  is  at  an  end.  Its  despotism  and 
arrogance  over  the  rural  populations  is  absorbed  and  reversed. 

We  have  seen  the  energies  of  the  American  people,  bringing  into  line 
and  into  use  these  new  poicers,  span  their  continent  with  the  Pacific 
Railway^  as  with  the  rapidity  of  lightning  from  a  mountain  cloud. 

Availing  themselves  of  the  favorable  thermal  warmth  upon  the  Plateau, 
and  upon  the  immediate  sea-coasts,  bathed  by  the  Asiatic  Gulf  Stream 
(the  Suro-Siwo),  they  will  continue  to  expand  their  work  to  Behring's 
Straits,  where  all  the  continents  are  united. 

This  will  prolong  itself  along  the  similarly  propitious  thermal  selvage 
of  the  Oriental  Russian  coasts,  into  China. 

To  prolong  this  unbroken  line  of  Cosmopolitan  Railways  along 
the  latitudinal  Plateau  of  Asia,  to  Moscow,  to  Berlin,  to  Paris,  to 
Madrid,  and  to  London,  will  not  have  long  delay. 

The  less  significant  and  isolated  continents  of  the  Southern  Hemi- 
sphere— South  America,  Africa,  and  Australasia — will  be  reached  by 
feeders  through  Panama,  Suez,  and  the  chain  of  Oriental  peninsulas 
and  islands.  The  whole  area  and  all  the  populations  of  the  globe  will  be 
thus  united  and  fused  by  land  travel  and  by  railways. 

Behold  what  a  short  quarter  of  a  century  in  time  has  sufficed  to 
originate  and  accomplish,  in  an  age  awakened  and  armed  with  the  subtle 
democratic  power  of  free  and  abundant  gold  ! 

What  celerity  of  motion  !  What  vivacity  of  progress  !  What  victo- 
rious, what  triumphant,  what  sublime  energies !  What  works  of  magni- 
tude !  How  benignant  to  mankind  !  How  prophetic  of  the  future  ! 
How  charitable  to  universal  humanity  ! 


CHAPTEK    X. 

THE   NORTH   AMERICAN    MISSION. 

In  the  current  of  ages,  mysteries  become  sciences.  Vague  speculation, 
long  fermenting,  and  perplexed  by  obscure  doubts,  produces  facts.  These 
crystallize  into  precious  truth.  From  the  blind  conjectures  of  Astrol- 
ogy has  dawned  the  science  of  Astronomy;  from  Alchemy  has  come 
Chemistry. 

The  American  people  now  reach  and  cross  the  thi'eshold,  where  they 
emerge  from  the  twilight  of  the  futile  world  of  thought  behind.  They 
enter  into  the  full  and  perpetual  light  and  promise  oi political  and  social 
science. 

A  glance  of  the  eye,  thrown  across  the  North  American  continent, 
accompanying  the  course  of  the  sun  from  ocean  to  ocean,  reveals  an 
extraordinary  landscape.  It  displays  immense  forces,  characterized  by 
order,  activity,  and  progi'ess. 

The  structure  of  nature — the  marching  of  a  vast  population — the  crea- 
tions of  the  people,  individually  and  combined — are  seen  in  infinite  varieties 
of  form  and  gigantic  dimensions.  Farms,  cities,  States,  jmblic  works, 
define  themselves,  flash  into  form,  accumulate,  combine,  and  harmonize. 

The  pioneer  army  perpetually  advances,  reconnoitres,  strikes  to  the  front. 
Empire  plants  itself  upon  the  trails.  Agitation,  creative  energy,  industry, 
throb  throughout  and  animate  this  crowding  deluge.  Conclusive  occupa- 
tion, solidity,  permanence,  and  a  stern  discipline,  attend  every  movement 
and  illustrate  every  camp. 

The  American  realizes  that  "  Progress  is  God."  He  clearly  recognizes 
and  accepts  the  continental  mission  of  his  country  and  his  people.  His 
faith  is  impregnably  fortified  by  this  vision  of  power,  unity,  and  forward 
motion. 

As  essential  to  all  clearness  of  illustration,  familiarity  with  the  geog- 
raphy and  physical  structure  of  the  American  continent  seems  to  me 
indispensable. 

Assuming  the  division  of  the  Northern  and  Southern  Continents  to  be 
at  Panama,  from  the  same  point  depart  the  northern  and  southern  systems 
of  the  Andes.     These  two  systems  of  mountains  assume  special  forms  of 

99 


100  THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  MISSION. 

Structure,  each  one  corresponding  with  the  anatomy  of  its  own  continent. 
They  form  the  backbone  of  the  skeletons  upon  which  the  continents  are 
several 'y  constructed. 

e  Soutliern  Ande  .  rising  out  of  the  ocean  at  Cape  Horn,  traverse 
without  interruption  from  south  to  north  the  whole  length  of  the  conti- 
nent. They  form  a  continuous  escarpment  not  remote  from  the  shore  of 
the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  curving  with  its  indentations. 

Approaching  the  equator,  an  expansion  to  the  east  forms  the  Peruvian 
Plateau,  and  is  prolonged  into  the  triangle  of  Brazil.  The  prolongations 
in  this  direction  extend  to  the  Atlantic,  and  separate  asunder  the  radiant 
basins  of  the  La  Plata,  Amazon,  Orinoco,  and  Magdalena  Rivers.  The 
shape  of  the  continent,  enveloped  all  round  by  the  sea,  and  that  of  the 
mountain  system,  are  reciprocally  fitted  to  each  other. 

The  Korthern  Ancles^  departing  from  Panama  and  contracted  by  the 
seas,  traverse  Central  America  to  Tehuantepec.  From  hence,  an  immense 
expansion  in  width  of  the  Northern  Continent  is  accompanied  by  a  cor- 
responding increase  in  the  magnitude  and  altitude  of  the  mountain 
system. 

An  immense  Plateau,  flanked  by  the  Cordilleras,  expands  from  sea  to 
sea.  On  the  east  the  Cordillera  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  rises  flush  from 
the  shores  of  the  Mexican  Gulf.  On  the  west  the  Cordillera  Nevada 
rises  from  the  shores  of  the  ocean  and  the  California  Gulf. 

The  Sierra  Nevada,  the  Western  Cordillera,  like  the  Southern  Andes, 
erects  itself  continuously  from  the  Pacific  Ocean,  whose  indented  shore 
it  accompanies  to  Bchring  Strait. 

The  Eastern  Cordillera  obliques  fi-om  the  IMexican  Gulf,  where  the 
latter  is  curved  to  the  east  by  the  immense  increasing  amplitude  of  the 
Northern  Continent.  This  Cordillera  is  flanked  henceforward  along  its 
base  by  the  Mississippi  basin,  whose  indented  shore  and  plain  it  con- 
tinuously overlooks. 

In  the  neighborhood  of  the  40th  degi-ee  of  latitude,  the  ?»oa-TO?i/m  width 
of  the  Northern  Continent  is  reached.  This  continent  diffc'rs  from  the 
Southern  in  the  intense  magnitude  of  its  anatomy.  Its  whole  area,  alike 
with  each  of  its  composing  details,  is  thus  magnified.  The  radiant  basins 
of  the  Mississippi,  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  Hudson's  Bay  and  Athabasca, 
depart  from  it.  The  Northern  Andes  liere  attain  a  breadth  of  1200  miles, 
and  as.sume  their  most  .stupendous  dimensions.  They  include  many  snowy 
sierras  and  a  multitude  of  peaks. 

From  this  hititvde  of  greatest  expansion,  the  mountain  system  contracts 
towards  the  north :  the  Cordilleras  converge  at  Behring's  Strait  as  at 
Tehuantepec :   they  are  again  condensed  into  one.     The  system  of  the 


THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  MISSION.  101 

Northern  Andes  thus  occupies  and  elevates  itself  al)ove  one-third  of  the 
area  of  North  America. 

Defined  by  itself,  it  is  a  prolonged  diamond-shaped  parallelogram,  faced 
on  all  points  by  the  Cordilleras,  longitudinal  in  position,  6000  miles  in 
length,  and  1200  in  width.  It  has  a  direction  from  south-southeast  to 
north-northwest.  Similitude  in  anatomical  structure  therefore  perfectly 
identifies  the  two  continents. 

This  similitude  of  profile  holds  equally  between  the  two  mountain 
systems.  The  Southern  Andes  exhibit  in  their  course  through  Patagonia 
and  Chili  two  summit  ridges  parallel  and  in  close  proximity.  These 
diverge  with  the  increasing  width  of  the  continent,  and  enclose  the  Pe- 
ruvian Plateau  and  its  extensions  into  Bolivia  and  the  elevated  plains  of 
New  Grranada.  The  same  peculiarity  is  seen  in  narrow  Central  America 
and  the  extension  to  the  north. 

If,  then,  the  imperfectly  developed  anatomy  of  a  youth  of  five  years 
be  arranged  side  by  side  with  that  of  his  maturity  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
five  years,  the  relative  resemblances  and  contrasts  of  South  and  North 
America  in  their  whole  anatomy  will  be  familiarly  illustrated. 

This  simplicity  of  structure  pervading  the  whole  system,  being  held  in 
the  mind,  it  is  manifest  that  the  Cordillera  of  the  Rocky  llounttdns  is 
the  stupendous  dorsal  foundation  upon  whose  prodigious  mass  and  solidity 
all  the  radiant  limbs  rest.  From  this,  including  the  AUeghanies,  they  all 
radiate  or  depend  as  outliers.  Into  this  they  all  ultimately  group  and 
condense  themselves. 

This  stupendous  longitudinal  Cordillera  segregates  the  physical  globe 
into  two  hemispheres.  These  two  hemispheres  present  the  basin  of  the 
Atlantic  towards  the  rising  sun,  that  of  the  Pacific  towards  the  setting  sun. 
Here  is  the  supreme  meridian  altitude  up  to  which  the  whole  globe  slopes  ! 

To  this  crowning  ridge  human  society,  emerging  from  the  two  ocean 
basins,  is  at  present  climbing ;  the  two  halves  front  face  to  face ;  they 
march  to  meet — to  unite  and  harmonize  over  this  summit ! 

We  have  seen  that  the  American  continent  expands  to  its  most  com- 
plete dimensions  and  amplitude  where  it  is  traversed  by  the  fortieth  degree 
of  north  latitude.  A  symmetrical  harmony,  perfect  in  every  detail,  here 
characterizes  all  the  departments  of  nature — an  ample  depth  of  seahodrd 
on  either  ocean — the  supreme  expanse  of  the  Mississippi  Basin — its  great 
confluent  rivers — the  grand  width  of  the  mountain  Plateau,  which  here 
protrudes  its  extreme  salient  corners  to  the  east  and  to  the  west — to  this 
focal  region  it  rises  in  altitude,  mass,  and  dimensions,  fi'om  every  point  of 
the  continental  horizon.  It  here  displays  over  its  area,  and  in  the 
outflanking  Cordilleras,  a  hundred  snow-crowned  peaks. 


102  TEE  NORTH  AMERICAN  MISSION 

Here  arise  in  cloud-compelling  majesty  the  continental  pillars,  Long's 
Peak  and  Pike's  Peak,  150  miles  apart ;  through  the  intermediate  space 
traverses  the  fortieth  decree  of  north  latitude.  From  their  summits  depart 
the  waters  to  seek  the  Asiatic  and  European  seas.  Hither  the  continental 
slopes  mounting  upwards  from  all  the  oceans  converge  and  culminate : 
from  hence  all  the  descending  waters  radiate. 

Here,  in  the  midst  of  the  grand  works  of  nature — multitudinous  in 
variety,  sublime  in  vastness,  in  order,  and  in  beauty — are  assembled  all 
the  natural  gifts  which  human  society  needs,  or  may  demand  for  the  most 
complete  development.  Here  the  supreme  Cordillera  envelops  in  its  folds 
a  group  of  gigantic  valleys  known  as  the  "  Si/stem  of  the  Pares  of  Colo- 
rado.^' 

Of  all  the  gems  displayed  here  and  there  in  the  physical  varieties 
which  checker  the  earth's  surface,  this  group  is  the  most  gigantic  in 
dimensions ;  the  most  transcendently  excellent  in  locality ;  the  most 
wonderful,  curious,  and  attractive. 

The  Parcs  bestride  the  line  of  way-travel  op  mankind  at 
a  point  op  paramount  control. 

Here  meet  and  mingle  mountains,  plains,  valleys,  rivers,  in  confluent 
affluence,  in  immensity  of  proportions,  order,  and  graceful  forms.  The 
pungent  and  tonic  atmosphere  preserves  the  highest  standard  of  modera- 
tion and  excellence  round  the  year.  The  oceans  are  not  far  oif,  and  are 
easily  accessible  over  uniformly  descending  slopes. 

Pastoral  agriculture,  mining,  arable  agriculture,  manufactures,  com- 
merce— each  of  these  has  th,^  essential  elements  of  a  conquering  power ; 
— they  are  here  all  blended,  e:T^h  self-supporting,  and  each  stimulating  all 
the  rest.  The  affluence  of  nature  and  the  prolific  generosity  of  her  pro- 
portions are  miraculous. 

The  Parcs  occupy,  longitudinally,  the  centre  of  Colorado,  passing 
through  and  through,  from  south  to  noi'tl:.  The  whole  area  of  Colorado, 
107,000  square  miles  (70,000,000  acres),  is  so  folded  around  them  as  to 
constitute  their  frame  and  envelope,  incapable  of  being  segregated  from 
them. 

These  Parcs,  thus  mounting  from  south  to  north,  one  upon  the  other, 
are  of  very  nearly  equal  area.  They  are  the  San  Luis,  the  South,  the 
Middle,  and  the  North  Parcs. 

The  elliptical  area  of  the  San  Luis  I'arc  is  18,000  square  miles 
(11,520,000  acres).  Their  similarity  one  to  another,  as  members  of  one 
family,  is  perfect.  The  internal  details  of  structure,  form,  and  scenery 
are  infinitely  variegated.  Each  one,  examined  by  itself,  seems  to  surpass 
tli(;  rci^t  in  (.'niinent  convenience  and  beauty.     The  climatic  geniality  of 


THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  MISSION.  103 

temperature  and  salubrity  have  not  a  single  blemish.  They  perpetually 
prompt  and  stimulate  mental  energy  and  physical  activity. 

I  am  struggling  to  narrate  faithfully  the  homespun  facts  of  nature  :  to 
exaggerate  is  far  from  my  intention.  The  splendid  magnitude  of  the 
architecture — the  faultless  proportions  everywhere  discernible — the  grace- 
ful grouping  of  propitious  and  benignant  elements — the  far-searchmg 
vision  and  resplendent  panorama — all  these  unite  to  reveal  to  the  judg- 
ment that  omnipotent  nature  here  culminates  her  work,  and  has  planted 
the  life-giving  heart  of  the  terrestrial  scheme. 

To  illustrate  this  wonderful  configuration,  as  with  a  model  of  di- 
minutive size,  the  Alps  of  Europe  present  an  example.  A  spectator, 
from  the  supreme  summit  of  the  Helvetian  Peaks,  beholds  radiating 
from  his  feet  the  diverging  channels  of  the  Po,  the  Rhine,  the  Rhone, 
and  the  Danube.  As  they  depart,  the  small  lake  basins  or  pares  of 
Geneva  and  Constance  gather  the  drippings  of  the  glaciers ;  and  the 
river  basins  open  out  to  share  between  them  the  widening  expanse  of 
the  continent. 

The  waters  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea  are  visible  towards  Genoa — those 
of  the  Adriatic  towai'ds  Venice.  Biscay,  and  the  German  and  Pontic 
Seas,  are  more  remote.  Within  a  horizon  whose  diameter  is  300  miles, 
are,  at  present,  congregated  45,000,000  of  population,  who  occupy  the 
river  basins  and  the  rugged  ground. 

Since  the  wars  of  Julius  Caesar,  the  progress  of  the  people  within  this 
area  has  been  sluggish  and  painful ;  civilization  yet  continues  crejmseular, 
and  its  languid  fire  is  maintained  with  difficulty.  A  hostile  climatology, 
forever  incubating  upon  nature  and  man,  saddens  labor,  chills  its  elas- 
ticity, and  stagnates  hope.  The  evil  passions  of  force  and  despair  rule ; 
the  energies  of  labor  and  virtue  are  crushed  out  by  a  perpetually  cor- 
roding pressure. 

The  incessant  vapors  from  the  neighboring  seas,  brought  in  by  every 
wind,  bathe  perpetually  the  mountain  altitudes :  these  are  thus  encased 
to  their  very  roots  with  unfathomable  depths  of  ice,  which  never  melts. 
The  soil  of  Europe,  saturated  by  chilling  fogs,  and  veiled  by  them  and 
by  forests  from  the  sun,  is  cold  and  sour — the  atmosjjhere  febrile  and 
inimical  to  life. 

Seamed  with  mountain  bones  from  west  to  east — pinched  in  and  trenched 
upon  around  its  margin  by  the  salt  wastes  of  Biscay  and  the  German 
Ocean — by  the  Baltic,  the  Mediterranean,  and  the  Pontic  Seas — Europe 
is  a  promontory  pendent  from  the  solid  dimensions  of  Asia,  having  only 
one-sixth  of  its  area. 

Its  convex  surface  and  ragged  shores — its  humid  atmosphere — its  large 


104  THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  MISSION. 

area,  expanding  from  an  edge  of  the  temperate  into  the  frigid  zone  of 
■warmth : — these  dwarf  as  well  the  industry  as  the  mind  of  man. 

Asia  and  Europe  present  a  continuous  snow-crested  wall,  east  and  west, 
from  China  to  Gibraltar,  rising  abruptly  and  not  far  removed  from  the 
southern  seas.  From  this  convex  crest,  to  the  north,  descends  as  con- 
tinuously a  hyperborean  slope,  withdrawn  from  the  sun,  and  resting  only 
within  the  oblique  and  chilling  shadow  of  his  rays. 

In  contrast,  the  longitudinal  direction  and  double  structure  of  the 
North  American  Andes  opens  them  to  the  directly  searching  and  om- 
nipotent power  of  the  meridian  sun :  their  outward  flanks  receive  the 
tempering  glories  of  his  morning  and  his  evening  beams. 

These  old  continents  are^  in  their  abstract  form  of  structure,  convex  as 
the  camel's  back. 

The  Cordilleras  of  North  America  and  their  outliers,  from  north  to 
south  in  direction  and  ranging  round  near  the  oceans,  give  to  the  con- 
tinent a  vast  and  splendid  concave  structure.  This  incessantly  receives 
and  absorbs  the  direct  solar  rays. 

North  America  is  a  sublime  amjjhitheatre,  of  gorgeous  fertility  and 
transcendent  proportions.  The  vast  surface  of  concentric  basins  is  uni- 
formly calcareous — it  is  scarcely  less  in  expanse  of  area,  or  more  undu- 
lating, than  the  oceans.  This  comprehensive  area,  mellow  and  salubrious, 
is  fattened  everywhere,  and  refreshed  by  the  soils  abraded  from  the  moun- 
tains. It  may  receive  by  immigration,  and  sustain  without  surfeit,  the 
existing  populations  of  the  globe. 

Cumulative  with  this  is  the  auspicious  structure  of  the  longitudinal 
Sierras.  Where  Colorado  embraces  and  arches  over  the  extreme  salient 
corner  of  the  Cordillera,  is  found  the  stupendous  culmination  in  bulk  and 
altitude  of  the  mountains,  of  the  valleys,  of  the  running  waters,  and  of 
the  climatology  of  the  whole  continent. 

To  this  supreme  apex  the  whole  continent  ascends,  by  easy  gradations, 
from  the  trough  of  the  Mississippi  on  the  one  hand,  from  the  shores  of 
the  Pacific  on  the  other  hand.  Here  is  the  summit  altitude  of  a  stupen- 
dous cone  of  elevation,  whose  diameter  has  a  foundation  of  2000  miles. 

Into  the  summit  area  of  this  truncated  cone  of  elevation  are  mortised 
to  a  profound  depth  the  valleys  which  make  up  the  "  Si/stem  of  the  Pares." 
These  collect  and  send  forth  the  fresh  waters,  like  the  arterial  blood  gath- 
ered and  distributed  from  the  human  heart. 

Vnnn  hence  depart  ten  rivers :  the  North  Platte,  to  the  north  ;  the 
South  Platte,  to  the  northeast;  the  Kansas,  to  the  east;  the  Arkansas 
and  Canadian,  to  the  southeast ;  the  Piio  Bravo  del  Norte,  due  south  into 
the  ^Icxicau  (jlulf;   the  San  .Juan.  Kagle.  and   (Jraiid  Colorado  Rivers,  to 


THE  NORTFI  AMERICAN  MISSION.  105 

the  southwest,  into  the  Gulf  of  California;  the  Green  River,  to  the 
northwest. 

The  North  Platte  descends,  without  deflection,  to  the  direct  north  for 
500  miles  to  receive  the  Sweetwater.  From  this  point  the  water-channels 
of  the  Yellowstone,  the  Missouri,  and  the  Saskatchewan  form  a  continu- 
ous and  easy  gradation  to  Hudson  s  Bay.  Passing  by  the  Green  and 
Snake  Rivers,  where  their  extreme  sources  intersect,  a  similar  continuous 
gradation  is  found  out  to  the  North  Pacific. 

Thus,  upon  this  mountain  summit  of  Colorado,  the  ascending  valleys 
converge  as  so  many  enormous  wedges,  ten  in  number,  arranged  with  their 
points  grouped  in  contact. 

The  passes  over  the  Sierras,  at  the  prolonged  extremities  of  these 
valleys,  re-entering  thus  upon  one  another,  are  numerous  and  easy.  They 
complete  the  through  lines  of  passage  across  the  continent.  These  make  a 
convergence  here,  from  the  two  fronts  of  the  continent,  resembling  the 
globes  of  an  hour-glass  communicating  through  the  stem  which  unites 
them. 

The  miracle  of  these  broadly  expanded  altitudes  is  their  climatology. 
Altitude  above  the  seas ;  latitude  and  longitude ;  seclusion  from  the  seas ; 
combine  to  perfect  the  moderation  in  temperature,  the  dryness,  the  salu- 
brity, and  the  splendor  of  the  atmosphere. 

The  light  and  fire  of  the  sun  rule  the  day  and  night,  the  seasons,  the 
tides,  the  vegetation  of  nature,  life  and  death  upon  the  land  and  in  the 
sea.  Isothermal  science  thus  explains  how  the  mind  of  man,  in  harmony 
with  the  supreme  order  of  nature,  intuitively  adjusts  itself  to  the  revolu- 
tions of  the  sun  and  is  tempered  by  his  heat. 

The  northern  hemisphere  of  the  globe  has  around  it  all  the  continents 
of  the  land,  holding  the  diminished  seas  in  the  intervals  between  them. 
The  races  white  in  color  inhabit  and  restrict  themselves  to  a  narrow  belt 
or  zodiac,  girdling  this  hemisphere  of  the  continents  round  and  round. 

This  belt  straddles  an  axis  of  intensity  whose  annual  mean  temperature 
is  52  degrees  of  Fahrenheit :  it  has  thirty  degrees  of  breadth,  being 
fifteen  degrees  to  the  south  and  fifteen  degrees  to  the  north  of  the  axis. 
Incorrectly  delineated  on  the  miniature  globes,  this  axis  of  intensity  would 
correspond  with  the  40th  degree  of  north  latitude,  and  the  zone  of  tem- 
perate warmth  will  embrace  the  belt  of  the  globe  fenced  within  the  25th 
and  55th  degrees. 

But  profound  modifications  of  temperature  are  wrought  by  the  alter- 
nating presence  and  special  configurations  of  oceans  and  continents ;  by 
the  power  of  atmospheric  and  of  ocean  currents ;  by  the  subtle  forces  of 
electricity,  gravitation,  and  the  mercurial  gestations  of  nature. 


106  THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  MISSION. 

This  axis  of  intensity  is,  therefore,  an  undulating  line.  It  arches 
towards  the  equator,  where  it  traverses  the  depths  of  the  continent.  It 
arches  towards  the  north  pole  over  the  expanses  of  the  oceans.  Within 
this  isothermal  belt,  and  restricted  to  it,  the  column  of  the  human  family, 
with  whom  abides  the  sacred  and  inspired  fire  of  civilization,  accompany- 
ing the  sun,  has  marched  from  east  to  west,  since  the  birth  of  time. 

Upon  this  axis  of  intensify  have  been  constructed  the  great  primary 
cities,  which  have  been  from  age  to  age  the  foci  from  which  have  radiated 
intellectual  activity  and  power.  Inicards,  and  converging  upon  this  axis, 
have  always  pressed  the  periodical  migratory  and  military  movements  of 
the  human  masses. 

These,  recoiling  alike  from  northern  cold  and  from  southern  heats,  seek 
instinctively  a  temperate  and  congenial  warmth. 

Of  this  highly  artificial  and  disciplined  system  of  civilization  we 
Americans  form  a  part.  It  is  transmitted  from  the  very  dawn  of  antiquity, 
and  is  inherited.  History  is  the  diary  of  its  geographical  progress,  of  its 
periods  of  brightness  and  obscurity,  of  its  struggles  and  of  its  energies. 

When  society  has  attained  its  largest  numerical  strength,  accomplish- 
ing the  highest  level  of  intelligence  and  the  longest  duration,  it  is  defined 
to  be  an  empire.  History  occupies  itself  with  the  biography  of  these 
empires — their  rise,  culmination,  and  decadence.  They  form  a  succession 
along  the  undulating  zone  of  the  northern  hemisphere  of  the  globe, 
within  the  isothermal  belt.  They  form  within  it  a  continuous  zodiac  from 
east  to  west. 

These  empires  are  the  Chinese,  the  Indian,  the  Persian,  the  Grecian,  the 
Roman,  the  Spanish,  the  British,  finally,  the  republican  empire  of  the 
people  of  North  America. 

These  are  the  essential  organizations  which  have  received  ;  held  intelli- 
gently for  a  few  centuries  each,  the  vestal  torch  of  civilization ;  perpetu- 
ated and  transmitted  it  with  more  or  less  fidelity.  /  repeat  again  the 
fact,  that  this  zone  belts  the  globe  around  where  the  continents  expand 
and  the  oceans  contract :  it  undulates  with  the  axis  of  warm  temperature 
(52  degrees  of  mean  heat)  :  it  contains  ninety-five  one-hundredths  of  the 
white  people  of  the  globe,  and  all  its  civilization ! 

As  a  perpetual  and  instinctive  pressure  tends  to  condense  population  on 
to  the  isothermal  axis,  so  it  thins  out  and  attenuates  in  vitality  and  num- 
bers— repelled  by  hostile  heats  on  the  one  hand,  and  by  cold  on  the  other 
— until  the  edge  is  reached  beyond  which  the  ichite  races  make  no  perma- 
nent lodgement  in  either  direction. 


CHAPTER    XL 

THE   NORTH   AMERICAN    MISSION — CONTINUED. 

On  the  Oriental  slope  of  Asia,  between  the  abrujjt  termination  of  the 
vast  mountain  bulk  and  the  Eastern  Ocean,  is  found  an  ample  region 
where  the  whole  width  of  the  temperate  zone  invites  and  fuses  popula- 
tion. 

This  favored  area  is  occupied  by  the  Chinese,  whose  institutions 
exhibit  a  growth  of  development  extending  over  five  thousand  years. 
Never  seriously  interrupted,  progress  has  so  perfected  a  homogeneous 
municipal  system  of  laws  and  education,  that  450,000,000  of  population 
(double  that  of  all  Europe)  are  united  in  one  harmonious  political  system 
in  concord  ahd  tranquillity. 

But  the  western  frontier  of  China  is  blockaded  by  the  inhospitable 
mountain  system  which  prolongs  itself  continuously  from  hence  to  West- 
ern Europe.  The  column  of  progress  has  recoiled  abruptly  from  their 
inclement  altitudes,  and  restricts  itself  to  the  narrow  margin  between  their 
southern  base  and  the  raggedly  indented  sea-coast. 

Here  the  northern  half,  or  semi-zone,  of  the  isothermal  belt,  has  been 
left  unoccupied ;  society  is  cut  in  half,  crippled  in  territory,  and  fatally 
dwarfed  in  variety  and  numbers.  It  has  vegetated  without  elasticity ;  unin- 
telligent and  sluggish. 

Everywhere  pinched  in  or  repelled  by  inland  seas,  the  onward  pro- 
gress hence  to  the  western  shores  of  Europe,  exhibits  only  transient  exemp- 
tions from  demoralization  and  disorder.  Absorbed  by  the  sterile  areas  of 
the  Persian  Gulf,  the  Pontic,  Propontic  and  Mediterranean  Seas,  land  in 
the  southern  half  of  the  isothermal  zone  is  here  either  totally  wanting, 
or  the  water  surface  is  only  freckled  by  a  stingy  succession  of  peninsulas 
and  small  islands,  inhabited  in  broken  links. 

If,  then,  the  area  occupied  by  China  be  alone  excepted,  the  narrow  and 
hostile  geographical  structure  of  the  margin  along  which  the  column  of 
society  has  struggled  through  Asia  and  Europe,  explains  its  slow,  embar- 
rassed, and  fitful  advance. 

The  small  empires  which  have  partially  ripened  have  been  distorted  in 
form,  short-lived  ;  disordered  by  anarchy  ;  heterogeneous  and  confused  in 

107 


108  THE   NORTH  AMERICAN  MISSION. 

elements.  In  Asia  they  ajDpear  emasculated  by  tlie  loss  of  tlie  nortliern 
temperate  semi-zone;  in  Europe,  Ly  a  counterpart  deficiency  of  the 
southern  semi-zone. 

As  the  great  ocean  chafes  perpetiuilly,  and  tortures  itself  among  the 
narrow  seas,  only  to  become  crippled  in  power  and  turbid  in  color  and 
temper :  so,  a  similar  acrid  turbulence,  and  loss  of  the  inspiring  instincts 
of  power  and  of  moderation,  have  characterized  the  mutilated  society 
cramped  in  along  the  line  of  march  through  Soutliern  Asia  and  the  south 
and  Kcst  of  Europe. 

The  sanguinary  incubation  of  military  despotisms  over  multitudinous 
millions  of  passive  and  unchronicled  serfs,  presents  a  sombre  canopy, 
through  whose  darkness  the  lightning  of  intelligence  has  scarcely  flashed. 
Sanguinary  monarchies  and  submissive  subjects  alone  are  seen. 

The  instinct  of  the  American  people  has  located  and  erected  the  grand 
maritime  cities  of  Philadelphia,  New  York,  and  Baltimore,  where  our 
continent  receives  the  axis  of  the  isothermal  zone.  Entering  here  from 
the  east,  and  favored  by  the  auspicious  architecture  of  our  continent,  this 
axis  of  intensity  traverses  it  athwart  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

It  deviates  little  from  the  fortieth  degree  of  latitude,  arching  from  it 
slightly  in  the  middle  range  towards  the  south.  Here  auspicious  nature 
unveils  every  propitious  gift.  The  energy  of  progress,  always  salient  upon 
this  line,  has  located  along  it  all  the  first  selected  and  chief  cities — Pitts- 
burg, Cincinnati,  St.  Louis,  Leavenworth  and  Kansas,  Denver,  Salt  Lake 
City,  Virginia,  San  Francisco.  Here  the  intrepid  energies  of  the  pioneer 
pojiulation  have  first  and  chiefly  condensed  themselves  in  force. 

But  we  have  seen  that  North  America  is  a  vast  amphitheatre,  and  is 
concave  in  configuration.  Its  valleys,  its  mountain  chains,  its  rivers,  its 
Cordilleras,  its  ocean  boundaries,  are  all  and  all  alike  lonyitudinal. 

The  whole  breadth  of  continent,  beneath  the  isothermal  zone  from  Cuba 
to  Hudson's  Bay,  presents  an  undeviating  harmony.  This  longitudinal 
expansion  runs  flush  into  the  arctic  zone,  and  into  the  equatorial  zone, 
absolutely  without  any  barrier  or  obstruction  to  its  undulating  smoothness 
of  surface. 

Nature  is  benignant  and  graceful  throughout  her  whole  scheme,  and  is 
propitious  in  the  working  of  all  her  laws,  and  in  every  element.  The 
longitudinal  mountains  receive  the  glory  of  the  morning  and  evening  sun 
upon  their  flanks,  the  noontide  beams  upon  their  summits — they  cast  no 
chilling  shadow. 

The  sun's  immortal  flame  is  never  withheld,  hut  jierpetnallj/  instils  his 
meridian  fire  through  all  living  nature,  and  into  the  hearts  of  men,  of 
women,  and  of  yrowin";  cliiMiin.      lluniaiiity,  nurtured   in  this  attluente 


THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  MISSION.  109 

of  divine  warmth,  instinctively  receives  and  cultivates  discipline,  elasticity, 
and  immortal  progress. 

The  contrasted  structure  of  the  continents  is  therefore  familiarly 
discernible.  The  one  convex — its  surface  segregated — and  afflicted  with 
perennial  discord.  The  other  concave — formed  to  concentrate  all  things, 
and  condense  them  into  everlasting  unity,  order,  and  concord. 

In  Asia  resides  a  population  of  840,000,000,  distributed  into  350  dis- 
cordant nationalities.  In  Europe  259,000,000  of  population,  distracted 
by  137  independent  monarchies.  Among  these  immense  hosts,  and  over 
this  vast  area,  since  the  dawn  of  history,  monarchy  and  military  despot- 
ism have  been  invariable  and  universal.  The  struggles  to  achieve  the  indi- 
vidual liberties,  self-government,  and  civilization  of  the  people  have  been 
few,  transient,  and  abortive. 

North  America  has  a  population  of  50,000,000.  With  them  the 
liberties,  self-government,  and  civilization  of  the  people  are  and  have 
been  normal  and  universal  in  principle  and  practice.  Monarchy  and 
military  despotism  have  been  always  unknown  and  absent  from  our  con- 
tinent. 

The  indestructible  principles  of  social  and  political  science  are  rescued, 
one  by  one,  from  the  chaos  and  rubbish  of  Europe.  They  are  known  in 
sufficient  numbers  to  perpetuate,  to  combine  and  fortify  themselves — to 
advance  from  discovery  to  discovery — from  victory  to  victory,  over  force, 
ignorance,  and  blind  error.  Rescued  from  the  quicksands  of  the  past, 
democratic-repuhlican power ^  rightly  understanding  itself,  has  here  set  and 
perpetuated  in  the  world  its  own  indestructible  foundations. 

As  the  continents  and  oceans  of  the  northern  hemisphere  wrap  the  globe 
in  a  closed  circle,  America  is  an  island.  She  is  intermediate  between  the 
oceans  and  the  outward  protruding  extremities  of  the  other  continent, 
being  equidistant  from  them. 

Europe  opens  all  the  outlets  of  its  inland  seas  and  rivers  towards  the 
west,  debouching  on  to  our  Atlantic  front,  towards  which  its  whole  surface 
slopes. 

Asia  similarly  presents  to  our  Pacific  front  an  Oriental  slope.  This 
contains  her  great  rivers,  the  densest  masses  of  her  population,  and 
detached  islands  of  great  area.  These  gorgeous  archipelagoes  are  brim- 
ful of  active  populations,  and  of  infinite  production. 

The  distance  from  the  European  to  the  Asian  shores,  as  we  accompany 
the  sun,  is  10,000  geographical  miles ! 

These  ancient  masses  of  population,  then,  l>ach  to  hach,  and  descending 
these  contrasted  slopes,  both  front  America — they  face  one  another  across 
America.     The  short  line  of  mutual  approach  is  the  axis  of  isothermal 


IIU  THE   NORTH   AMERICAN  MISSION. 

warmth,  penetrating  four-fifths  of  the  kind,  and  nine-tenths  of  the  popu- 
lation of  the  globe ! 

This  is  the  line  of  way-travel  of  all  the  white  races,  of  the  commercial 
activity  and  industry  of  the  zodiac  of  civilization  ! 

As,  then,  this  interval  of  North  America  is  filled  up,  the  afiiliation  of 
all  mankind  will  be  accomplished  :  proximity  recognized  :  the  distractions 
of  intervening  oceans  and  equatorial  heats  cease  :  the  remotest  nations  be 
grouped  together  and  fused  into  one  universal  and  harmonious  system  of 
fraternal  relations. 

Here,  then,  at  this  moment,  by  the  an-ival  of  the  American  people  on 
the  summit  of  the  Cordillera,  ascending  and  conquering  both  its  flanks 
simultaneously,  the  most  startling  fact  of  all  time  reveals  itself — aus- 
picious to  the  whole  human  race,  and  pregnant  with  the  most  portentous 
and  immediate  consequences. 

Suddenly  the  mysteries  of  geographical  progress  are  resolved — light  and 
victory  substitute  themselves  for  darkness  and  distrust.  Why  the  halves 
of  the  human  race,  marching  the  one  half  towards  the  setting  sun,  and 
the  other  half  towards  the  rising  sun,  and  perpetually  departing  asunder — 
separated  in  the  rear  by  insuperable  physical  barriers — broken  apart  by 
hostile  forces  and  obstacles — have  maintained  feebly,  and  often  entirely 
lost,  their  mutual  relations,  is  clearly  revealed  ! 

Now,  at  this  hour,  this  progress  of  mutual  departure  is  complete,  and 
completely  reversed.  Upon  the  auspicious  arena  of  the  American  conti- 
nent and  the  Pacific  Ocean,  these  columns  surprise  one  another  in  over- 
whelming force  and  numbers.  They  encounter,  face  to  face,  and  front  to 
front.  The  mission  of  each  and  both  manifests  itself  That  peace  and 
charity  are  possible  in  the  world  is  recognized — chronic  war  unnecessary, 
and  a  consuming  blunder. 

These  multitudes  behold  one  another — the  weapons  of  mutual  slaughter 
are  hurled  away — the  sanguinary  passions  of  a  consuming  rapacity  find  a 
check — a  majority  of  the  human  family  is  found  to  accept  and  protect  the 
essential  teachings  of  Christianity  in  practice. 

Room  is  discovered  for  industrial  virtue  and  industrial  power.  The 
civilized  masses  of  the  world  meet — they  mutually  explain  and  under- 
stand one  another — they  are  mutually  enlightened,  and  fraternize  to  re- 
constitute human  relations  and  institutions  in  harmony  with  nature  and 
with  God. 

The  world  may  cease  to  be  a  unanimous  military  camp,  incubated  only 
by  the  malignant  principles  of  arbitrary  force  and  abject  submission. 

A  new  and  grand  order  in  human  afi^uirs  inaugurates  itself  out  of  these 
immense  concurrent  discoveries  and  events. 


THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  MISSION.  HI 

The  great  heart  of  American  society  palpitates  with  new  fires,  impelled 
by  a  universal  instinct,  inspiring  discipline  in  action  and  rectitude  of 
purpose.  Science  illuminates  their  work  ;  circumstances  favor  and  dictate 
success  to  their  energies. 

A  divine  light,  issuing  out  of  the  obscurity  of  the  past,  shines  upon 
our  country  and  upon  our  people.  It  speaks  out  in  the  never-silent  oracles 
of  Nature,  in  response  to  which  each  individual  heart  is  free  to  re-echo  and 
reflect.  A  finite  goal  is  unveiled  to  them,  and  distinctly  seen — its  pos- 
session and  fruition  are  intelligibly  revealed. 

The  decade,  from  1840  to  1850,  has  become  forever  memorable  by  a 
crowning  discovery  made  and  victory  won  by  the  genius  of  the  pioneers. 
I  mean  the  "  gold  fever."  Tlie  indefinite  production  and  midtipli- 
cation  of  sound  money  hy  the  individual  and  voluntary  labor  of  the 
people. 

Labor  and  industry  construct  their  own  empire  and  assume  the  adminis- 
tration of  governments.  Steam  upon  the  ocean  and  upon  the  land:  more 
potent  than  armies :  condenses  labor,  and  magnifies  indefinitely  its  power 
and  its  results.  The  ameliorating  graces  of  commerce  are  rescued  from 
the  despotic  monopoly  of  riparian  cities,  isolated  on  the  fringe  of  the  sea. 

They  transport  themselves  in  generous  profusion  to  the  homes  of  the 
people,  where  they  live  in  the  depths  of  the  continents.  They  are  dif- 
fused to  them  as  the  renovating  rain  of  summer  distils  its  drops  to  every 
forest  tree,  to  every  blade  of  grain,  and  to  each  individual  flower.  The 
consuming  voracity  of  government :  administered  only  in  the  interests 
of  trade  and  the  engulfing  rapacity  of  maritime  cities :  is  uprooted. 
Equality  and  equity  in  the  administration  of  power  are  brought  within 
the  reach  and  practice  of  rural  populations. 

Whereas  the  energies  and  the  conquests  of  the  pioneer  army  of  the 
people ;  during  the  last  quarter  of  a  century ;  have  caused  the  most 
significant  and  profound  perturbations  of  society  throughout  the  world — 
as  to  them  also,  the  City  of  Denver  owes  her  location  and  her  future 
— it  is  necessary  to  illustrate  the  causes  of  this  extraordinary  freshness 
and  activity. 

On  July  4th,  1849,  speaking  by  their  invitation  to  the  California  emi- 
grants about  to  depart  from  the  Missouri  River,  I  used  this  language : — 

"Up  to  the  year  1840,  the  progress  whereby  twenty-six  States  and 
four  Territories  have  been  established  and  peopled,  has  amounted  to  a 
solid  strip,  rescued  from  the  wilderness,  24  miles  in  depth,  added  annually 
along  the  western  face  of  the  Union,  from  Canada  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

"  This  occupation  of  wild  territory,  accumulating  outward  like  the  annual 
rings  of  our  forest  trees,  proceeds  with  all  the  solemnity  of  a  providential 


112  THE  XORTH  AMERICAN  MISSION. 

ordinance.  It  is  at  this  moment  sweeping  onward  to  tlie  Pacific  with 
accelerated  activity  and  force,  like  a  deluge  of  men,  rising  unabatedly, 
and  daily  pushed  onward  by  the  hand  of  Uod. 

"  Fronting  the  Union,  on  every  side,  is  a  vast  army  of  pioneers.  This 
active  host,  numbering  500.000  at  least,  has  the  movements  and  obeys 
the  discipline  of  a  perfectly  organized  military  force.  It  is  momentarily 
recruited  by  single  individuals,  by  families :  and  in  some  instances  by 
whole  communities :  from  every  village,  county,  city,  and  State  of  the 
Union,  and  by  immigrants  from  other  nations. 

"  Each  man  in  the  moving  throng  is  in  force  a  platoon.  He  makes  a 
farm  on  the  outer  edge  of  the  settlements,  which  he  occupies  for  a  year. 
He  then  sells  to  the  leading  files  pressing  up  to  him  from  behind.  He 
again  advances  24  miles,  renews  his  farm,  is  again  overtaken  and  again 
sells.  As  individuals  fall  out  from  the  front  ranks,  or  fix  themselves 
permanently,  others  rush  from  behind,  pass  to  the  front,  and  assail  the 
wilderness  in  their  turn. 

"  Previous  to  the  recently  concluded  war  with  Mexico,  this  energetic 
throng  was  engaged  at  one  point  in  occupying  the  Peninsula  of  Florida 
and  lands  vacated  by  emigrant  Indian  tribes.  At  another  point  in  reach- 
ing the  copper  region  of  Lake  Superior :  in  absorbing  Iowa  and  Wis- 
consin. From  this  very  spot  had  gone  forth  a  forlorn  hope  to  occupy 
Oregon  and  California.  Texas  was  thus  annexed — the  Indian  country 
pressed  upon  its  fla;ik> — spy  companies  reconnoitred  New  and  Old  Mexico. 

"  Even  then :  obeying  the  mysterious  and  inscrutable  impulse  which 
drives  our  nation  to  its  goal :  a  body  of  the  hardiest  race  that  ever  faced 
varied  and  unnumbered  dangers  and  privations,  embarked  upon  the  trail 
to  the  Pacific  coast.  They  forced  their  way  to  the  end :  encountering 
and  defying  difiiculties  unparalleled ;  with  a  courage  and  success  the  like 
to  which  the  world  has  not  heretofore  seen. 

"  Thus,  then,  overland  sweeps  this  tidal  wave  of  population,  absorbing 
in  its  thundering  march  the  glebe,  the  savages,  and  the  wild  beasts  of 
the  wilderness :  scaling  the  mountains,  and  debouching  down  upon  the 
seaboai'd.  Upon  the  high  Atlantic  sea-coast,  the  pioneer  force  has  thrown 
itself  into  ships,  and  found  in  the  ocean  fisheries  food  for  its  creative 
genius.  The  whaling  fleet  is  the  marine  force  of  the  pioneer  army. 
These  two  forces,  by  land  and  by  sea,  liave  both  worked  steadily  onward 
to  the  North  Pacific. 

"  They  now  rc-unite  in  the  harbors  of  California  and  Oregon,  about  to 
bring  into  existence  upon  the  Pacific  a  commercial  grandeur  identical  with 
that  which  has  followed  and  gathered  to  them  upon  the  Atlantic. 


THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  MISSION.  113 

"  Hence  have  already  come  these  new  States  :  this  other  seaboard :  and 
the  renewed  vivacity  of  progress  with  which  the  general  heart  now  pal- 
pitates ! 

"  Will  this  cease  or  slacken  ?  Has  the  pouring  forth  of  the  stream 
from  Europe  ever  ceased  since  the  day  of  Columbus  ?  Has  the  grass 
obliterated  the  trails  down  the  AUeghanies,  or  across  the  Mississippi  ? 
Rather  let  him  who  doubts  seat  himself  upon  the  bank  of  the  supreme 
Missouri  River,  and  await  the  running  dry  of  his  yellow  waters !  For 
sooner  shall  he  see  this,  than  a  cessation  in  the  crowd  now  flowing  loose  to 
the  Western  seaboard ! 

"  Gold  is  dug — lumber  is  manufactured — pastoral  and  arable  agriculture 
grow  apace — a  marine  flashes  into  existence — commerce  resounds — the  fish- 
eries are  prosecuted — vessels  are  built — steam  pants  through  all  the  waters. 
Each  interest  stimulating  all  the  rest,  and  perpetually  creating  novelties, 
a  career  is  commenced,  to  which,  as  it  glances  across  the  Pacific,  the 
human  eye  assigns  no  term  !" 

It  is  to  the  infallible  judgment  and  the  intrepid  valor  of  the  p/o?iecr.<! 
that  the  American  people  owe  the  selection  of  Colorado  and  the  auspicious 
cowiopol'dan  site  of  Denver.  The  one  crowns  and  embraces  the  supreme 
altitude  of  the  continent,  and  majestically  arches  the  Cordillera  :  the  other 
rests  in  the  focus  of  the  continental  scheme  of  activity  and  fresh  forces. 

By  the  exalted  energy  and  devotion  of  the  pioneer  army,  the  imperilled 
Union  has  been  saved  from  obscure  speculations  and  blind  theories. 

We  had  beheld  a  period  of  repression  ;  during  which  our  people  had 
been  driven  by  malignant  legislation  in  a  maritime  shell  around  the  conti- 
nent :  its  vast  centre  had  been  retained  as  a  desert  disc. 

The  patriotism  and  energies  of  the  people,  pent  up  and  exasperated  by 
malignant  politics,  had  become  deformed  and  distorted  by  civil  strife  :  our 
soil  incarnadined  with  fraternal  blood. 

With  the  piorieer  army  rests  the  glory  which  has  vindicated  the  mis- 
sion of  America :  which  preserves,  enlarges,  and  perpetuates  the  con- 
tinental union  of  the  States ;  elsewhere  rocked  to  its  foundations,  and 
enervated  by  nepotism  to  the  foolish  fasl do ns  of  Europe. 

While  European  sentiment  and  its  dismal  political  bigotry  has  every- 
where fomented  civil  war  and  slaughter  ;  invaded  Mexico  ;  bombarded  the 
West  Indies  and  South  America ;  filled  Canada  with  incendiaries,  and 
the  ocean  with  pirates :  ancient,  bountiful,  wise,  prolific,  and  luxuriant 
Asia,  has  cultivated  and  pressed  upon  us  peace,  friendship,  sympathy,  and 
the  affiliation  of  her  redundant  populations  and  productions. 

Advancing  to  meet  and  embrace  this  fresh  and  splendid  arena :  march- 
ing with  the  double  purpose  to  assimilate  with  the  Asiatic  system  and 


114  THE   NORTH  AMERICAX  MISSION. 

activities,  and  to  emancipate  itself  from  the  impoverishing  and  sterile 
monopoly  of  the  Atlantic,  the  pioneer  army  selects  Denver. 

Here  the  geography  and  drainage  of  the  Atlantic  comes  to  an  end  ; 
that  of  the  Pacific  is  reached.  Infallible  instinct  adheres  to  the  isother- 
inal  axis. 

Here  is  the  propitious  point  to  receive  the  column  from  Asia,  de- 
bouching from  the  ocean  and  the  mountains  to  radiate  and  expand  itself 
eastward  over  the  unobstructed  area  of  the  Mississippi  basin  !  We  con- 
sent to  face  about !  The  rear  becomes  the  front !  Asia  in  front ;  Europe 
in  the  rear ! 

Denver  is  875  miles  from  Sacramento:  14G1  from  Mexico  City: 
1100  from  St.  Louis  :  and  2200  from  New  York. 

It  is.  therefore,  by  proximity  identified  with  the  Pacific  Ocean  and 
with  Mexico. 

It  is  the  salient  point  to  which  Asia  and  Polynesia  will  come,  seeking 
a  central  base  from  which  to  distribute  themselves  over  the  eastern  area 
of  America  and  to  Europe.  The  selection  thus  first  made  by  the  inspired 
and  infallible  judgment  of  i\\G,  p)ioneers  of  the  ivilderness  will  forever  re- 
main unanimously  acceptable  to  the  American  people. 

The  instinct,  the  whole  embodied  force  and  pressure  of  interest,  judg- 
ment, power,  and  patriotism  of  the  people  of  the  Pacific,  will  construct 
the  Central  Railroad  of  North  America,  from  San  Francisco  to  Denver  ! 

Why  this  conclusion  dictates  itself  as  eminently  probable,  is  illustrated 
by  innumerable  shining  and  concurrent  facts  of  nature  and  experiences  of 
progress. 

Denver  is  in  a  focal  point  of  impregnable  power  in  the  topographical 
configuration  of  the  continent.  It  is  a  foccd  point  for  the  great  radiant 
rivers,  six  in  number,  whose  channels  form  a  multitude  of  unbroken  grades 
descending  to  the  Atlantic.  It  is  e({ually  so  for  those  streams  which, 
scalping  the  escarpments  of  the  Cordillera,  prolong  these  gradients  and 
graft  them,  through  and  through,  on  the  counterpart /oca?  system  of  the 
rivers  of  the  Pacific. 

The  symmetrical  propinquity  and  7'/(^e/--radiation  of  the  plains  of  the 
Arkansas  and  Platte  llivers — enveloping  and  fusing  into  the  plain  of  the 
Kansa.s — carry  the  Great  Plains,  like  an  undulating  ocean,  sheer  up  to 
the  primeval  Cordillera.      This  is  here  unembarrassed  hy  outliers. 

The  Great  Plains  forma  descending  slope  to  the  longitudinal  trough 
of  the  ]\Iississij)pi  Piiver,  basking  themselves  in  the  eastern  sun.  By  their 
intense  fertility  and  immense  area,  they  are  about  to  give  to  our  people 
supremacy  in  the  world. 

The  Great  Plains  extend  from  the  Mexican  Gulf  to  the  Arctic  Sea. 


THE   NORTH  AMERICAN  MISSION.  115 

They  are  of  a  uuiform  drift  fonnation,  alluvial  and  diluvial :  tliey  liave  a 
width,  from  west  to  east,  of  1200  niilcs;  a  longitudinal  lenti'th  of  3500. 

The  destruction  of  the  mountains  forms  their  soils,  in  which  every 
active  element  of  fertility  and  production  is  mingled.  This  huge  area 
owes  its  construction  and  its  smoothness  to  the  vast  net-work  of  rivers 
which  meander  down  its  slope ;  but  still  more  especially  to  the  atmospheric 
currents  flowing  perpetually  from  the  west. 

In  this  work  Nature  employs  the  industry  of  multitudinous  myriads 
of  minute  animals.  The  zoophytes  erect  coral  islands  from  the  aljyss  of 
the  ocean.  Here  the  ants,  the  marmots,  the  badgers,  the  foxes,  the 
wolves,  everywhere  erect  their  multitudinous  nests  from  the  powder  and 
minute  gravel  of  the  subsoil. 

Dried  by  the  sun  and  fanned  by  the  vxst  ivind,  from  each  separate 
hillock  rises,  to  the  height  of  thirty  feet,  a  whirlpool  of  soil.  This  travels, 
from  west  to  east^  a  few  hundred  feet,  bursts  and  sows  itself  broadcast. 
Periodically  come  sand-storms  of  force  and  violence,  which,  to  a  less  dis- 
tance and  similarly,  transport  the  fine  gravel  and  small  boulders. 

This  system,  of  natural  forces,  acting  through  countless  ages,  has  formed 
by  the  atmospheric  currents  this  prodigious  sloping  glacis.  As  large  in  ex- 
pause  as  is  the  Atlantic  Sea,  the  winds  sweep  over  and  mould  its  surface 
as  completely  as  they  ruffle  the  water  surface  and  drive  the  waves  of 
the  ocean. 

This  porotis  drift  material  absorbs  promptly  and  hides  the  water  coming 
from  the  clouds.  These  waters  permeate  down  and  underflow  upon  the 
bed-rock  foundation,  which  has  the  same  perpetual  slope  and  is  parallel 
with  the  top  surfece.  Elevated  for  irrigation  by  artesian  wells,  after  use 
it  again  sinks  to  its  home  beneath,  and  is  protected  from  evaporation. 

Of  the  fattest  fertility  ;  drained  beneath  ;  everywhere  supplied  with 
artesian  waters,  there  is  no  interruption  to  this  propitious  structure  and 
uniform  adaptability  to  arable  culture.  Every  acre  of  this  ocean  prairie 
thus  off"ers  itself  for  the  production  of  the  cereals. 

In  their  undisturbed  nature  these  plains  are  pastoral :  they  have,  within 
the  knowledge  of  our  people — within  my  own  knowledge — sustained 
100,000,000  of  aboriginal  grazing  stock,  feeding  themselves  upon  the 
perennial  grass&s,  as  fish  in  the  sea. 

Animal  life  is  as  multitudinous,  and  as  various  in  kinds,  as  is  the  coun- 
terpart marine  population  of  the  ocean  !  Mineral  fuel,  and  material  for 
building  and  fencing,  are  abundant  and  universally  distributed.  The 
atmosphere  is  uniformly  moderate  in  temperature,  favorable  to  health,  to 
longevity,  to  intellectual  and  physical  development,  and  stimulative  of  an 
exalted  tone  of  social  civilization  and  refinement. 


116  THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  MISSION. 

Sucli  is  the  grandeur  which  displays  itself  around  us  to  the  noftli, 
to  the  east,  and  to  the  south.  Nature  groups  her  favors  in  endless 
varieties,  in  the  most  auspicious  forms,  and  in  the  palmiest  dimensions. 

Towering  above  us  on  the  west  are  the  cloud-compelling  summits  of 
the  Eastern  Cordillera.  We  have  seen  that  the  system  of  the  North 
American  Andes  here  reaches  its  extreme  departure  from  the  oceans  ;  its 
most  salient  angle  of  expansion ;  culminating  also  in  supreme  bulk  and 
altitude. 

Enveloped  within  them  are  the  Pares :  adjacent  to  and  beyond  these, 
are  the  immense  mountain  basins  of  the  Rio  del  Norte  ;  the  Colorado ; 
Salt  Lake  ;  and  Columbia :  all  upon  the  expanse  of  the  Plateau. 

In  and  around  the  Parcs  is  preparing  itself  the  mining  laboratory  of 
the  world.  The  rare  economy  in  structure,  climate,  inter-oceanic  con- 
venience, prolific  food,  miscellaneous  materials  and  metals,  constitute 
and  locate  here  the  paragon  of  all  geographical  positions. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE    NORTH   AMERICAN    MISSION — CONTINUED. 

The  discoveries  of  exact  science  teach,  us  conclusively  what  is  desirable 
to  be  known. 

Everybody  is  familiar  with  the  manufacture  of  shot.  This  is  accom- 
plished by  pouring  liquid  lead  at  a  high  elevation  through  perforated 
moulds.  Each  pellet  of  lead  descending  through  the  air  is  formed  into  a 
sphere,  as  it  cools,  by  the  invisible  force  of  gravity. 

The  globe  of  the  earth  has  had  a  similar  origin ;  once  a  liquid  mass  ; 
now  a  solid  gravitating  sphere  of  8000  miles  in  diameter,  such  as  we  in- 
habit it.  Geology  explains  how  the  material  mass  of  this  great  sphere 
has  arranged  itself  into  layers  or  shells,  enveloping  one  another  like  the 
successive  coatings  of  an  onion,  or  rather  as  the  pulp  of  an  orange  with 
many  successive  rinds. 

Specific  gravity  accounts  for  the  relative  positions  of  these  layers  one 
upon  the  other :  it  explains  to  us  where  and  how  to  penetrate  to  their 
metalliferous  contents.  It  is  in  the  primeval  rocks  exclusively  that  the 
precious  metals  and  gems  are  found.  The  base  metals  are  found  in  the 
calcareous  rocks. 

Specific  gravity  guides  us  to  discover  the  rocks  in  which  the  metals  are 
found  and  when  they  are  totally  absent.  If  into  a  hollow  pillar  of  glass  there 
be  poured  a  quart  of  quicksilver,  one  of  water,  one  of  oil,  and  one  of 
alcohol,  these  liquids  will  rest  one  upon  the  other  in  this  order. 

If  a  piece  of  gold,  of  iron,  of  wood,  and  a  feather,  be  thrown  in,  they 
will  sink — the  gold  to  the  bottom,  the  iron  to  the  quicksilver,  the  wood 
to  the  water,  the  feather  to  the  oil.  If  this  whole  mass  be  congealed  to 
ice,  this  arrangement  will  remain  solid  and  permanent.  The  gold  must 
be  sought  for  sedimentary  to  the  quicksilver ;  the  iron  above  it,  but  sedi- 
mentary to  the  water ;  the  wood  resting  upon  the  water,  but  sedimentary 
to  the  oil. 

In  the  stupendous  proportions  and  exact  order  of  nature,  a  similar 
arrangement  holds  in  the  rocks  which  envelop  the  globe  of  the  earth  in 
a  crust,  as  the  contents  of  an  egg  are  held  within  its  shell.  This  crust  or 
shell  is  known  to  be  125  miles  in  thickness. 

117 


118  THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  MISSION. 

These  rocks,  once  all  soft  or  liquiil.  are  now  all  permanently  solid,  in 
the  order  of  their  relative  specific  gravities. 

But,  as  the  bottom  contents  of  a  meadow-field  are  ripped  up  by  the 
driving  force  of  a  subsoil  plow,  so  the  compressed  fires  and  chaotic 
forces  of  the  interior  globe,  tearing  through  its  crust,  have  thrown  up  the 
titanic  longitudinal  furrow  which  is  now  the  elevated  CoRDILLERA  from 
Cape  Horn  to  Behring's  Strait. 

The  lowest  rocks,  therefore,  split  asunder  and  driven  up  vertically, 
now  form  the  summit  of  the  Cordilkru.  The  rended  facings  of  the 
bottom  plates  become  the  surmounting  top  of  the  Sierra.  The  warped 
sides,  bent  upwards,  form  the  sloping  flanks  of  the  Sierra.  Piled  against 
these,  the  superincumbent  strata  are  lapped. 

These  appear  as  successive  benches  upon  the  flanks  of  the  Cordillera, 
forming  a  rugged  staircase,  whose  steps  are  each  of  continental  magnitude 
and  dimensions.  Such  is  the  aboriginal  profile  of  the  primeval  Cor- 
dillera, now  rasped  away  and  ragged  by  corrosion  and  the  play  of  the 
elements  during  countless  millions  of  seasons. 

But  science,  with  equal  truth  and  simplicity,  ascending  upwards  from 
the  earth's  surface,  explains  the  atmospheres  '^•hich  embrace  the  globe 
outside,  and  handles  them  without  obscurity. 

The  globe  is  covered  externally  with  a  liquid  shell  of  water,  through 
which  the  contents  protrude  :  this  is  the  ocean,  aqueous  atmosphere,  being 
dense  and  visible  to  the  eye. 

External  to  this,  and  resting  upon  it,  is  the  shell  of  the  aerial  atmos- 
phere. This  atmosphere  is  invisible  to  the  eye ;  but  the  vapors  exhaled 
from  the  land  and  the  ocean  ascend  into  it ;  are  condensed  into  mists  and 
rain-clouds,  which  float  through  it  in  visible  masses. 

At  an  altitude  of  4000  feet,  this  aerial  atmosjihere  terminates  as 
abruptly  and  completely  as  has  the  aqueous  atmosj)here  at  our  feet. 
Above  its  limit,  or  upper  surface,  the  rain-clouds  do  not  ascend,  but  have 
their  termination  and  level  similarly  to  the  aqueous  atmosphere  beneath. 

External  to  the  aerial  atmosphere  is  the  ETHEREAL  atmosphere,  beyond 
which  animal  life,  vegetation,  and  clouds  cease  to  exist. 

Physical  geogi'aphy  defines  those  portions  of  the  earth's  surface  within 
the  aerial  atmosphere  to  possess  a  maritime  climate ;  those  within  the 
etiiereal  atmosphere  to  possess  a  continental  climate.  The  Plateaux 
of  North  America,  of  Central  Asia,  and  of  South  America  enjoy  a  conti- 
nental climate ;  the  rest  of  the  earth's  surface  lies  within  the  maritime 
climate. 

How  perfectly  the  area  of  Colorado  possesses  a  continental  climate 
and  lies  within  the  ctlurctd  atniDsplaTc.  iiiaiiif'ests  itself  to  every  observ- 


THE  XOIiTH  AMERICAN  MISSION.  119 

ing  eye.  The  illustrations  and  proofs  of  this  arc  conclusive  in  every 
department  and  minute  detail  of  nature — upon  the  surface  of  the  Plains; 
in  the  canopy  overhead ;  in  the  mountains ;  in  animal  life ;  and  in  the 
vegetation. 

To  the  traveller  who  ascends  from  east  to  icesf,  at  the  passage  of  tlie 
102d  meridian,  the  metamorphosis  over  the  vchole  landscape  is  couiplctc. 
The  surface  of  the  eai-th  is  uniformly  dry,  compact,  and  free  from  mud  ; 
the  forest  has  disappeai"ed  even  from  the  rivers  ;  where  irrigation,  other 
than  that  supplied  from  the  clouds,  is  absent,  wormwood,  the  cactus,  and 
delicate  perennial  grasses  only  grow ;  the  air  is  intensely  pungent,  tonic 
to  the  taste,  dry,  and  translucent ;  the  atmospheric  pressure  diminishes, 
and  animal  digestion  is  modified. 

Across  the  canopy,  which  is  intensely  blue  in  color  and  brilliancy,  rush 
incessantly,  like  horsed  couriers  of  the  air,  cumuli  clouds,  burnished  with 
and  radiating  silver  fire.  This  gorgeous  meteoric  display  of  clouds  is  multi- 
tudinous and  incessant  round  the  year :  they  contain  neither  rain  nor 
electricity ;  and  descend  over  us  with  mysterious  and  incalculable  velocity  in 
the  aerial  atmosphere. 

The  atmospheric  currents  pour  incessantly  from  the  wrst — the  moun- 
tains gather  but  little  snow — they  are  naked  and  dry  at  midsummer.  The 
rivers  are  without  afllueuts,  and  expend  their  waters  by  evaporation.  The 
incessant  passage  of  clouds  does  not  obscure  the  sun,  but  refracts  and 
intensifies  his  inspiring  light. 

There  are  neither  moisture,  miasmas,  nor  perceptible  exhalations  of  any 
kind.  Dust  is  not  frequent.  Serenity,  moderation,  and  purity  reign  within 
the  complete  circuit  of  the  horizon.  The  mind  of  man  is  soothed,  tem- 
pered, and  modified  by  this  immense  benignity  throughout  nature,  which 
infuses  itself,  and  assimilates  everything  but  human  avarice  and  rapacity. 

The  superb  richness  of  color  and  of  dissolving  shades  are  infinitely 
variegated  and  delicate.  The  vision,  aided  by  the  continually  increasing 
elevation,  is  far  penetrating  and  distinct  in  its  recognitions.  Within  and 
among  the  mountains  and  upon  the  Plateau,  the  rainless  character, 
serenity,  and  splendor  of  the  atmosphere  are  the  same.  All  these  gener- 
ous attributes  gather  in  force,  and  are  enhanced  by  the  superlative  beauty 
and  sublimity  of  their  marvellous  structure,  magnitude,  and  number. 

The  precise  /acts  which  fix  the  supreme  climatic  excellence  of  Colorado 
are  these :  the  latitude — the  elevation  above  the  sea — the  remote  seclu- 
sion from  the  sea.  These  all  attain  here  their  maximum,  and  unite  har- 
moniously. This  results  from  the  astonishing  and  auspicious  concord 
between  the  grand  laws  of  nature ;  the  comprehensive  scale  of  the  archi- 
tecture ;  and  the  favorable  local  configuration. 


120  THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  MISSION. 

The  Korth  American  Andes  everywhere  prove  themselves  to  have  been 
driven  up  through  the  bed  of  a  primeval  ocean,  of  which  the  3Iississippi 
basin  is  the  still  unaltered  bowl.  The  sedimentary  strata,  like  a  nest  of 
bowls  lining  the  abyss,  are  broken  oflf  and  tilted  up  along  the  indented 
base  of  the  mountains. 

A  ti'aveller  who  approaches  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  coming  from  the 
east,  sees  that  ocean  penetrating  every  bay,  gulf,  harbor,  and  indentation 
of  the  land,  preserving  an  unalterable  level.  In  the  same  way,  wrapped 
against  the  Cordillera,  and  meandering  its  infinitely  indented  roots  with 
the  same  undeviating  fidelity,  are  seen  the  rended  edges  of  the  calcareous 
strata. 

Each  stratum  having  its  characteristic  color,  this  fringe  of  a  departed 
ocean  is  traced  without  intermission  lengthwise  through  the  continent. 
It  is  easily  discernible,  as  though  a  continuous  rainbow  were  plaited  in  to 
mark  the  line  of  junction,  where  the  sedimentary  and  primeval  rocks  join 
together  and  depart  in  opposite  directions,  each  to  maintain  exclusive 
dominion. 

Thus,  ascending  along  the  arc  of  the  40th  degree  of  latitude,  a  dis- 
tance of  twenty  miles  from  the  Plains,  directly  up  to  the  summit  of  the 
Cordillera,  every  elementary  rock  of  the  geological  scale  is  crossed, 
arranged  in  order  and  placed  in  position.  At  the  lower  end  appears 
diluvial  drift,  the  top  settlings  of  the  sea ;  at  the  other  end  the  primeval 
porphj/ri/,  upheaved  from  the  lowest  crust. 

Mere,  in  economical  juxtaposition  and  luxuriant  proflig-acy,  are  found 
every  metal,  every  rock,  every  clay,  every  salt,  every  alkali,  fuel,  arbores- 
cence,  vegetation  of  grasses  and  flora — every  and  each  element  of  the 
geological  scale  to  which  human  industry  applies  its  skill,  or  manufactures 
and  converts  to  social  use. 

I  am  awed  by  these  marvellous  facts  of  nature,  which  cannot  escape 
recognition.  I  have  not  discovered  that  they  exist,  or  can  so  exist,  else- 
where round  the  earth's  circumference,  in  any  such  complete  combination, 
of  such  purity  and  magnitude,  as  here — intermediate — upon  the  condensed 
track  of  way-travel  of  the  j)Oi)ulous  and  active  zodiac  of  mankind. 

A  startling  and  profound  novelty  here  displays  itself  and  fixes  our 
attention. 

All  along  the  loiKjitudinal  Plateau,  altitude  and  the  protection  of  the 
Cordilleras  temper  the  Iieat  towards  the  ecjuatorial  zone  ;  the  same  causes 
temper  the  cold  towards  the  polar  zone.  These  extremes  of  temperature 
for  the  day  and  for  the  night  are  great ;  for  the  seasons  round  the  year 
scarcely  perceptible.      In  one  word,  the  temperature  is  uniformly  vernal. 

By  this,  the  genial  and   pnipitidiis  cliniatt'  of  the   isothermal  zodiac  ia 


THE  NORTH   AMERICAN   MISSION.  121 

prolonged  outward  upon  its  north  flank,  and  its  south  flank :  it  extends 
up  and  down  the  area  of  the  Plateau,  and  is  felt  to  both  its  extremities. 

Thus  is  illustrated  the  severe  contrast  among  the  continents,  North 
America  being  in  its  configuration  concave — all  the  others  convex.  Else- 
where, hostile  structure,  perpetuating  incorrigible  distraction,  segregates 
society  and  dwarfs  its  energies. 

In  North  America  a  homogeneous  unity  of  language,  population,  and 
manners  is  unavoidable.  This  is  benignantly  amplified  by  an  undulating 
variety  of  contour,  pervading  equally  the  mountain  system  and  the  plains. 
This  happy  combination  provokes  the  highest  development  and  discipline 
of  energy,  and  the  most  exalted  civilization. 

As  for  the  site  upon  which  the  City  of  Denver  is  founded,  it  is  pre- 
eminently cosmopolitan.  It  pre-occupies  the  auspicious  focus  into  which 
Nature  groups  all  her  colossal  elements.  We  are  at  the  base  of  the  East- 
ern Cordillera,  whose  summit,  nowhere  penetrated  by  navigation  for  ten 
thousand  miles,  forms  the  physical  meridian  which  parts  and  unites  the 
two  hemispheres  of  the  globe. 

Here  the  vast  arena  of  the  Pacific  basin  fits  itself  to  the  basin  of  the 
Atlantic,  edge  to  edge.  The  goal  is  reached  where  the  zodiac  of  nations 
closes  its  circle.    The  gap  between  the  hemispheres  is  bridged  over  forever. 

We  are  upon  the  isothermal  axis,  which  is  the  trunk  line  (the  thalweg) 
of  intense  and  intelligent  energy ;  where  civilization  has  its  largest  field, 
its  highest  development,  its  inspii'ed  form. 

There  is  an  intoxicating  grandeur  in  the  panorama  which  unveils  itself 
to  the  spectator  looking  out  from  the  crest  of  the  neighboi'ing  Cordillera. 
In  front,  in  rear,  and  on  either  flank,  Nature  ascends  to  her  highest 
standard  of  excellence. 

Behold  to  the  right  the  Mississippi  Basin :  to  the  left  the  Plateau  of 
the  Table  Lands :  beneath,  the  family  of  Pares :  around,  the  radiating 
backs  of  the  primeval  mountains :  the  primary  rivers  starting  to  the  seas : 
a  uniform  altitude  of  8000  feet :  a  translucent  atmosphere,  a  thousand  miles 
removed  from  the  ocean  and  its  influences :  a  checkered  landscape,  from 
which  no  element  of  sublimity  is  left  out — fertility  and  food  upon  the 
surface  ;  metals  beneath  ;  uninterrupted  facility  of  transit. 

Behold  here  the  panorama  which  crowns  the  middle  region  of  our 
Union ;  fans  the  immortal  fire  of  patriotism ;  and  beckons  on  the  ener- 
getic host  of  our  people  ! 

Here,  through  the  heart  of  our  territory,  our  population,  our  States, 
our  cities,  our  mines,  our  farms  and  habitations,  will  traverse  the  con- 
densed commerce  of  mankind — where  passengers  and  cargoes  may,  at  any 
time  or  pjlace,  embark  upon  or  leave  the  vehicles  of  transportation. 


122  THE  NORTH  AM  ERIC  AX  MISSION. 

Down  witli  the  parricidal  policy  which  will  banish  it  from  the  land — 
from  among  the  broadcast  dwellings  of  the  people — to  force  it  on  to  the 
sterile  ocean  :  outside  of  society,  throiigh  foreign  nations — into  the  torrid 
heats :  along  solitary,  circuitous  routes  :  imprisoned  for  months  and  dwarfed 
in  great  ships  ! 

Railways,  multiplied  and  spanning  the  continent,  are  essential  domestic 
institutions  ;  more  powerful  and  more  permanent  than  law,  or  popular  con- 
sent, or  political  constitutions,  to  thoroughly  complete  the  grand  system 
of  fluvial  arteries  which  fraternize  us  into  one  people — to  bind  the  two 
seaboards  to  this  one  continental  union,  like  ears  to  the  human  head — to 
radicate  the  rural  foundations  of  the  Union  so  broad  and  deep,  and 
establish  its  structures  so  solid,  that  no  possible  force  or  stratagem  can 
shake  its  permanence — to  secure  such  scope  and  space  to  progress,  that 
equality  and  prosperity  shall  never  be  impaired,  or  chafe  for  want  of  room  ! 

To  Denver  is  secured  a  career  into  which  all  these  favorable  facts  of 
position  and  circumferent  area  are  now  united.  The  North  American 
people  number  Ji/ti/  millions  in  strength.  Two  millions  annually  shift 
their  homes.  This  force  is,  par  excellence,  the  pioneer  army  of  the  North 
American  people.  This  movement  causes  an  uninterrupted  pressure  of 
the  people  from  east  to  west,  resembling  the  drift  of  the  ocean  which 
accompanies  the  great  tidal  wave. 

Diurnally  is  the  surface  of  the  sea  lifted  up  in  silence  and  poured  upon 
the  coasts  of  the  continents.  Exactly  similar  to  this  is  the  movement, 
annually  gathering  force,  and  seen  to  impel  our  people  through  and 
through  from  the  eastern  to  the  western  limit  of  the  land. 

The  inscrutable  force  o^  gravity,  which  with  minute  accuracy  holds  the 
planets  in  their  orbits,  or  causes  each  drop  of  rain  to  fall,  sways  the 
instinct  of  society.  This  gravitation  presses  from  all  directions  upon  the 
axis,  and  to  the  focus  of  intensity.  This  regular  instinct  of  movement 
has  been  transiently  interfered  with  by  the  artificial  passions  and  demorali- 
zation of  civil  strife.  It  rapidly  assumes  again  its  temper  and  its 
regularity. 

Our  neighbors  from  California  work  up  to  us  with  miraculous  energy 
and  celerity.     They  bring  with  them  the  open  avenue  to  us  from  Asia. 

The  Mexican  column  reaches  us  from  the  south.  On  the  north  the 
activity  is  great,  and  in  close  contact.  These  several  columns  simultane- 
ously converge  upon  us.  They  increase  every  moment  in  numbers,  weight, 
and  celerity  of  motion. 

We  no  longer  march  into  the  blind  wilderness,  dependent  upon  and 
chained  exclusively  to  Europe  in  the  rear.  We  o^ien  up  in  front  the 
gorgeous  arena  of  the  Asiatic  Ocean 


THE   XOItril  AMERICAN  MISSION.  123 

At  present,  tlie  huge  city  of  London  monopolizes  the  imports  from  the 
Oriental  world.  These  are  stored  there,  and  retailed  to  the  })e(jple  re- 
siding in  the  basin  of  the  Atlantic. 

Upon  the  labor  of  the  American  people,  so  far  as  they  participate  in 
the  consumption  of  Oriental  wares,  is  harnessed  the  frightful  burden  to 
support  the  British  people  and  the  British  Empire,  a  ul  to  be  devoured 
by  their  voracious  despotism  of  trade. 

The  work  of  emancipation  is  accomplished  by  the  intrepid  energies 
and  conquests  of  the  pioneer  army  of  North  America.  It  only  remains 
to  be  appreciated  and  accepted  by  the  people. 

We  are  about  to  supply  by  direct  export  the  food  and  precious  and  base 
metals  to  850,000,000  of  neighboring  Asiatics  !  To  Japan  :  to  China : 
to  India.  To  the  gorgeous  islands  of  Borneo  :  Sumatra :  Java.  To  the 
Philippines :  the  Celebes.  To  the  Archipelagoes  of  the  Sooloo  Sea  and 
Polynesia !  These  are  larger  in  aggregate  area,  and  more  populous,  than 
Europe  ;  and  are  nearer  to  us. 

Included  within  the  equatorial  zone,  but  approached  by  us  through  the 
temperate  zone,  they  overflow  with  merchandises  desirable  to  our  people, 
in  multitudinous  affluence.  To  us  will  belong  the  prodigious  carrying 
trade  upon  the  seas  for  these  infinite  multitudes.  The  equatoi"ial  heats 
are  outflanked  and  avoided.  The  conflict  for  dominion  over  the  mul- 
tiplied commerce  of  the  world  is  fought,  and  the  conclusive  victory  is 
won  for  our  country. 

A  large  majority  of  the  American  people  now  reside  within  the  Mis- 
sissippi Basin,  and  in  this  Asiatic  front  of  our  continent,  which  is  born 
from  us. 

Nascent  powers,  herculean  from  the  hour  of  their  birth,  unveil  their 
forms  and  demand  their  rights.  States  for  the  pioneers;  self-govern- 
ment for  the  pioneers  ;  untrammelled  way  for  the  imperial  energies  of  the 
forces  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Pacific  Sea,  may  not  long  be 
withheld  by  covetous,  arbitrary,  and  arrogant  jealousy  and  injustice ! 

In  the  conflict  for  freedom,  it  is  not  numbers  or  cunning  that  conquers  ; 
but  rather  daring,  discipline,  and  judgment,  combined  and  tempered  by 
the  condensed  fire  of  faith  and  intrepid  valor. 

As  it  is  my  hope,  in  these  notes,  to  contribute  what  may  be  valuable, 
I  adhere  strictly  to  severe  facts,  and  reject  absolutely  all  theory  and 
speculation.  These  facts  are  as  indestructibly  established  as  is  the  alpha- 
bet, and  are  as  worthy  of  unquestioning  faith  and  credence. 

That  we  may  look  into  the  gathering  achievements  of  the  near  future, 
without  obscurity,  and  with  an  accurate  prophetic  vision,  I  may  without 
censure  submit  what  is  within  my  own  personal  experience. 


124  Tl"-^   yORTH  AMERICAN  MISSION. 

It  foil  to  my  lot,  during  the  years  from  1840  to  1845,  alone  and  in 
extreme  youth,  to  seek  and  chalk  out,  in  the  immense  solitudes  filling 
the  space  from  Missouri  to  China,  the  lines  of  this  dazzling  empire  of 
which  we  now  hold  the  oracular  crown — to  have  stood  by  its  cradle — to 
be  the  witness  of  its  miraculous  growth. 

It  is  not  for  me,  in  this  season  of  gathering  splendor,  to  speak  tamely 
upon  a  subject  of  such  intense  and  engrossing  novelty  and  interest.  I  may 
properly  here  quote  the  concluding  sentences  of  a  report  which  I  was  re- 
quired to  make  on  the  2d  of  ]March,  1840,  to  the  United  States  Senate, 
at  that  time  brimful  of  illustrious  statesmen.  What  I  said  then  and 
there,  in  the  first  dawning  twilight  of  our  glory,  I  will  now  repeat: 

"  The  calm,  wise  man  sets  himself  to  study  aright  and  understand  clearly 
the  deep  designs  of  Providence — to  scan  the  great  volume  of  nature — to 
fathom,  if  possible,  the  will  of  the  Creator,  and  to  receive  with  respect 
what  may  be  revealed  to  him. 

"  Two  centuries  have  rolled  over  our  race  upon  this  continent.  From 
nothing  we  have  become  20,000,000.  From  nothing  we  are  grown  to 
be  in  agriculture,  in  commerce,  in  civilization,  and  in  natural  strength, 
the  first  among  nations  existing  or  in  history.  So  much  is  our  destiny — 
so  far,  up  to  this  time — transacted,  accomplished,  certain,  and  not  to  be 
disputed.     From  this  threshold  we  read  the  future. 

"  The  iintransacted  destiny  of  the  American  people  is  to  subdue  the 
continent — to  rush  over  this  vast  field  to  the  Pacific  Ocean — to  animate 
the  many  hundred  millions  of  its  people,  and  to  cheer  tjiem  upward — to 
set  the  principle  of  self-government  at  work — to  agitate  these  herculean 
masses — to  establish  a  new  order  in  human  affairs — to  set  free  the  en- 
slaved— to  regenerate  superannuated  nations — to  change  darkness  into 
light — to  stir  up  the  sleep  of  a  hundred  centuries — to  teach  old  nations 
a  new  civilization — to  confirm  the  destiny  of  the  human  race — to  carry 
the  career  of  mankind  to  its  culminating  point — to  cause  stagnant  people 
to  be  re-born — to  perfect  science — to  emblazon  history  with  the  conquest 
of  peace — to  shed  a  new  and  resplendent  glory  upon  mankind — to  unite 
the  world  in  one  social  family — to  dissolve  the  spell  of  tyranny  and  exalt 
charity — to  absolve  the  curse  that  weighs  down  humanity,  and  to  shed 
blessings  round  the  world  ! 

"  Divint'  taiik  !  immortal  mission  !  Let  us  tread  fast  and  joyfully  the 
open  trail  before  us !  Let  every  American  heart  ojien  wide  fur  patriotism 
to  glow  undimmed,  and  confide  with  religious  faith  in  the  sublime  and 
prodigious  destiny  of  his  well-loved  country." 


APPENDIX. 


I. 
MEXICAN    WAE. 

REMABKS  OF  MAJOR  GILPIN,  AT  THE  BARBECUE  GIVEN  THE  COLE  INFANTRY,  AT 
JEFFERSON  CITY,  THURSDAY,  AUGUST  10,  1847. 

Happy  are  those  who,  after  hopes  long  suspended  and  harassing 
anxieties  long  and  doubtingly  endured,  come  to  find  their  hopes  consum- 
mated by  brilliant  successes,  their  anxieties  relieved  by  enthusiastic 
praises  and  the  shouts  of  triumph. 

Such  are  the  soldiers  who,  their  trials  ended  and  their  long  and  ex- 
hausting services  at  an  end,  are  here  assembled  to  receive  the  greetings 
of  their  kindred,  and  listen  to  their  flattering  praises  and  their  shouts  of 
victory  and  welcome. 

During  thirty-two  years  of  peace, — a  long  period,  which  includes  the 
birth  of  nine-tenths  of  us, — our  own  State  has  joined  the  confederacy. 
War  came  suddenly.  With  the  same  pen  which  signed  the  declaration 
of  hostilities  between  Mexico  and  the  United  States,  the  President  di- 
rected to  Missouri  the  first  requisition  for  the  War  ! 

It  asked  a  slender  force  of  1500  men, — all  volunteers  but  300  dragoons 
— to  cross  the  Great  Plains  and  penetrate  Mexico  by  the  north. 

Bounding  forth  at  the  sound  of  the  war-bugle,  in  one  month  were  as- 
sembled at  Fort  Leavenworth,  beyond  the  western  verge  of  our  Union, 
the  1st  Regiment  of  Missouri  Cavalry,  the  battalion  of  Artillery  from  St. 
Louis,  the  battalion  of  Cole  Infantry,  and  the  Laclede  Rangers,  1200  in 
all,  and  forth  they  marched. 

Wars  had  occupied  mankind  for  one  hundred  centuries,  but  they  had 
been  wars  between  adjacent  nations — marches  had  been  confined  to  inhab- 
ited countries,  where  provisions  abounded  on  the  routes. 

Here  was  a  wilderness  of  a  thousand  miles  to  be  traversed,  and  the  enemy 
to  be  encountered  at  home,  in  great  strength,  and  abounding  in  resources. 
A  failure  to  transport  with  us  complete  supplies  was  certain  disaster  and 
Starvation — a  check  received  from  the  enemy  at  their  threshold  would 

125 


126  APPEXDIX. 

eventuate  the  same.     This  enemy  was  the  people  of  3Iexico,  a  sister  Re- 
public. 

Years  had  been  exhausted  in  ingenious  devices  on  our  part  to  avoid 
this  conflict.  Our  citizens  had  been  massacred  in  Texas  amidst  the  very 
orgies  of  barbarism — our  merchants  had  been  plundered  and  imprisoned 
— our  flag  insulted  in  their  metropolis — our  citizens  murdered,  maltreated, 
and  scofi'ed  for  their  religion — debts  accumulating  during  thirty  years 
unpaid — treaties  contemptuously  violated — more  than  all,  an  attempt  to 
imitate  our  republican  system,  productive  only  of  anarchy,  stood  as  a  bur- 
lesque beside  us  on  our  own  continent,  furnishing  to  the  malevolent  food 
for  satires  upon  popular  freedom  in  the  New  "World. 

Forth,  then,  into  the  wilderness  plunged  the  little  army  of  Missouri  to 
encounter  these  enemies  of  their  country — their  country  to  them  alivays 
right. 

The  plains  were  passed,  and  the  rugged  mountains  which,  dividing 
from  the  Rocky  Mountains,  encircle  New  Mexico,  were  reached.  Their 
rapid  progress  had  outstripped  the  provision-trains.  Amidst  fatiguing 
marches,  dust,  solstitial  heats,  and  scanty  water,  subsisting  on  one-quarter 
of  the  ordinary  ration,  they  rushed  onward  to  Santa  Fe. 

The  army  of  New  Mexico,  in  numbers  three  to  one  of  our  force,  occu- 
pying the  impregnable  gorge  of  Gallisteo,  which  covers  the  approach  to 
Santa  Fe,  dispersed  in  dismay.  On  the  18th  of  August,  three  months 
fi-om  the  proclamation  of  war,  made  at  Washington  City,  2300  miles  dis- 
tant, the  state  of  New  Mexico  lay  conquered,  and  the  American  flag 
floated  over  the  Capitol  at  Santa  Fe. 

Occupied  until  the  middle  of  September  in  securing  the  subjugation  of 
the  country,  the  1st  Regiment  descended  the  Del  Norte  to  the  lower  set- 
tlements, receiving  the  submission  of  the  towns  and  people,  and  returned 
to  Santa  Fe. 

New  Mexico  contains  100,000  inhabitants,  vast  resources,  and  by  its 
basin-like  configuration  is  easily  defensible,  and  difficult  to  be  conquered 
or  long  held  in  subjection. 

New  Mexico  is  surrounded  by  powerful  tribes  of  military  Indians  :  the 
Comanches,  towards  Texas — the  Yutas  and  Xavajos  in  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, and  on  their  slope  towards  the  Pacific. 

Issuing  from  the  surrounding  mountains,  these  warlike  Indians  strike 
down  the  people,  devastate  the  banks  of  the  Del  Norte,  and  drive  forth 
the  stock.  In  years  past  they  have  plundered  from  INIexicans  many  mil- 
lions of  sheep  and  cattle.  Ry  the  submission  of  New  IMexico  we  had 
become  the  guardians  of  her  people  and  territory.  The  pious  duty  re- 
mained to  tame  her  savage  foes. 


MEXICAN    WAR.  127 

The  infantry,  artillery,  and  dragoons  remained  to  garrison  Santa  Fe — a 
fort  was  built  to  command  its  approaches — a  treaty  was  asked  for  and 
made  by  the  Comanches.  The  1st  Ilegiment,  in  three  detachments,  de- 
parted for  the  recesses  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  late  in  September :  the 
one  penetrating  towards  the  northwest  by  Canada  and  the  Cliamas  against 
the  Yutas  and  Navajos  ;  another  southwest  by  Albuquerque  and  Sabo- 
letta ;  a  third  descended  by  the  Del  Norte,  covering  the  American  traders 
bound  eventually  to  Chihuahua. 

The  northern  column  passed  out  through  a  denuded  country  and  devas- 
tated villages,  to  which  the  fugitive  Mexicans  returned  under  its  protec- 
tion, and,  reaching  the  recesses  of  the  Ilocky  Mountains  by  the  sources  of 
the  river  Chamas,  in  one  month  delivered  to  the  authorities  in  Santa  Fe 
65  Yutas,  including  their  chiefs  and  chief  warriors. 

With  them  was  formed  a  treaty  of  peace,  since  faithfully  observed  by 
those  Indians.  This  restored  many  thousand  families  of  Mexicans  to 
their  farms  and  firesides,  and  gave  quiet  to  the  northern  frontier. 

Supplies  having  been  with  great  difficulty  collected,  this  same  column 
prepared  to  pass  the  eternal  barrier  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  scare 
up  the  Navajos,  reposing  in  security  on  their  western  slope. 

On  the  2d  of  November  (in  this  climate  the  depth  of  winter,  indicated 
by  the  snows  which  enwrapped  the  surrounding  mountains),  this  little 
force,  300  strong,  abandoning  their  tents  and  wagons,  entered  the  gorges 
that  led  up  to  the  "  Pass  of  the  San  Juaij,"  the  head  of  this  great  river 
which  flows  to  the  Pacific. 

With  us  were  70  Mexican  allies  and  100  pack-mules  transporting  pro- 
visions. In  seven  days,  contending  against  snow-storms  and  ice  at  an 
altitude  of  10,000  feet  in  mid-winter,  and  unpalatable  water,  the  passage 
of  the  "  Great  Motlier  Mountain"  of  the  continent  was  accomplished.  The 
measles  scourged  our  camp.  The  brave  boys,  Foster  and  Bryant,  fell  a 
prey  to  its  ravages. 

Following  for  some  days  the  great  San  Juan,  leaving  its  banks  swarming 
with  the  sheep  and  horses  of  the  Navajos,  and  crossing  towards  the  south 
the  impracticable  mountain  of  Tunicha  (never  before  trodden  by  white 
men),  we  descended  into  the  cavernous  region  of  Challa,  amidst  the  seclu- 
sion of  which  are  the  forts  and  fastnesses  of  the  Navajos. 

Astounded  at  the  appearance  of  an  American  force  where  they  had 
trusted  it  could  never  penetrate,  the  chiefs  tendered  presents,  restored  the 
horses  which  had  been  stolen  from  New  Mexico,  and  promised  abject  sub- 
mission. 

Taking  with  us  nine  chiefs  commissioned  to  bind  the  nation,  we  hast- 
ened toward  the  snowy  peaks  M'hich  rose  200  miles  to  the  east  and  barred 


128  APPENDIX. 

our  return  to  New  Mexico.  At  the  western  base  of  these,  in  the  territorji 
of  the  Zuni  Indians,  we  nwaited  the  arrival  of  the  colonel  commanding, 
to  whom  the  Navajos'  chiefs  swore  eternal  friendship  to  the  white  Jian. 

Marching  hence  under  the  western  edge  of  the  mountain  crest,  we 
visited  and  smoked  the  pipe  in  the  city  of  the  Zuiii  Indians.  This 
people,  many  of  them  albinos,  one  of  the  lost  specks  of  the  antique 
Aztec  race,  inhabit  a  solitary  city  in  the  centre  of  the  immense  plain 
traversed  by  a  northern  branch  of  the  Gila  River. 

Hence,  recrossing  the  "  Great  Mother  Mountain"  by  the  Zuni  Pass  on 
the  four  first  days  of  Decemher,  we  descended  to  the  Del  Norte.  Joyously 
did  we  meet  again  our  fellow-soldiers,  and  soon  the  1st  Regiment  found 
itself  reunited  at  Yalverde,  250  miles  below  Santa  Fe,  about  to  pass 
onward  to  the  conquest  of  El  Paso  and  Chihuahua. 

Thus,  since  our  departure  from  Santa  Fe,  had  our  little  force  under  my 
command  reduced  to  peace  the  Yuta  and  Navajo  nations,  40,000  strong, 
accomplished  a  march  of  750  miles,  crossed  and  recrossed  the  Sierra 
Madre,  passed  the  Tunicha  and  Chiuska  Mountains,  and  many  rivers. 

During  many  successive  nights  the  cold  descended  to  the  freezing-point 
of  mercury :  the  streams  were  frozen  solid :  the  pasture  scanty :  and  of 
fuel  there  was  but  a  stingy  handful  of  evergreen  weeds : — two  brave  men 
and  many  horses  had  perished  :  for  the  rest,  their  health  was  good,  and 
their  spirits  always  gay  and  undaunted. 

This  is  the  first  military  force  of  our  nation  which,  crossing  the  Rocky 
Mountains  and  iinfurling  the  national  standard  upon  the  waters  of  the 
Pacific,  ha.s  received  for  it  the  submission  of  a  hostile  people;  and  this 
was  accomplished  in  the  depth  of  winter. 

A  portion  of  our  little  army  (the  artillery  and  infantry)  remained  to 
occupy  New  Mexico ;  another,  accompanying  General  Kearney,  had  gone 
to  secure  the  conquest  of  California.  The  Indians  having  been  subdued, 
the  1st  Regiment  was  now  concentrated  at  Valverde,  on  the  lower  edge 
of  New  Mexico,  meditating  the  conquest  of  the  rich  and  populous  state 
of  Chihuahua. 

This  was  the  12th  of  December.  Our  regiment  mustered  7G0  men. 
The  weather  was  intensely  cold,  the  river  ran  with  ice — we  had  no  tents 
— and  our  animals  starved  upon  the  harsh,  dry  grass.  In  El  Paso,  200 
miles  below,  are  comfort  and  plenty — wine  and  corn,  and  houses,  and  a 
delicious  climate  ;  but  there,  too,  are  a  regular  force  of  1500  Mexicans 
and  five  pieces  of  artillery.  Between  the  armies  is  the  "Jornada,"  or 
"  Journey  of  the  Dead,"  a  dreary  stretch  of  100  miles,  without  wood  or 
water. 

At  the   entrance  of  the   "Jornada,"  awaiting  our  advance,  were  the 


MEXICAN    WAR.  129 

American  merchants,  having  300  wagons,  charged  with  $1,000,000  worth 
of  merchandise.  One  hundred  men  under  Captain  Hudson  subsequently 
came  to  us  from  Santa  Fe,  called  the  "  Chihuahua  Rangers" — they  were 
drawn  from  the  2d  Regiment  (Colonel  Price's).  An  express  was  sent 
back  to  Santa  Fe  for  one  company  of  artillery,  commanded  by  Captain 
Waitman.  This  company  overtook  us  afterwards  in  El  Paso — about  the 
1st  of  February. 

On  the  12th,  a  forlorn  hope  of  300  passed  onward  to  open  the  passage 
through  the  "Jornada" — with  this  were  Captains  Parsons,  Waldo,  Reid, 
and  Rodgers.  We  expected  to  meet  the  enemy  as  we  should  pass  onward 
from  its  jaws. 

The  passage  was  accomplished — no  enemy  obstructed  our  exit  at  the 
farther  end — we  descended  to  the  river  and  quenched  our  thirst,  con- 
tinued during  three  days  and  nights.  Robledo  is  the  name  given  to  the 
lower  mouth  of  the  Jornada.  Twelve  miles  below  is  the  little  town  of 
Dona- Ana — it  has  plenty  of  corn  and  600  people. 

This  is  the  only  settlement  above  El  Paso,  which  is  80  miles  distant. 
On  the  morrow  we  entered  Dona- Ana,  and  there  learned  that  the  Mexican 
army  would  advance  to  meet  us  as  we  should  descend  to  El  Paso. 

On  the  23d,  our  whole  force,  having  successfully  passed  the  Jornada, 
reunited  at  Dona-Ana. 

On  the  24th,  our  march  was  18  miles.  On  the  25th,  advancing  rapidly 
ahead  of  the  wagon  train,  we  encamped  at  Brazito,  19  miles,  about  one 
o'clock.  The  camp-guard,  60  strong,  the  wagon-guards,  and  many  men 
with  jaded  horses,  were  in  the  rear.      This  was  Christmas  day. 

At  two  o'clock,  the  approaching  cloud  of  dust  revealed  the  advance  of 
the  Mexicans.  The  bugles  sounding  to  arms,  our  force  was  deployed  in 
a  single  line  on  foot  upon  the  prairie  in  front,  and  enveloping  the  wagons : — 
we  numbered  424. 

The  Mexicans  deployed  immediately  in  our  front,  in  gallant  style,  and 
rapidly : — they  numbered  1250.  The  veteran  Vera  Cruz  Dragoons  were 
on  the  right — the  Chihuahua  Cavalry  on  the  left — in  the  centre,  infantry. 
Now  it  was  that  a  black  flag  was  flapped  in  our  eyes  from  the  centre  of 
the  Mexican  line.     It  was  defied — the  shock  of  battle  followed. 

The  Mexicans  charged  upon  our  line — their  cavalry  converging  to  our 
front,  their  infantry  advancing.  Our  men,  sitting  down  and  receiving 
many  volleys  from  their  artillery,  musketry,  and  csoopettes,  decoyed  them 
close — when  suddenly  rising  and  pouring  in  a  lurid  sheet  of  fire,  the  enemy, 
riddled  everywhere,  fled  howling. 

Their  artillery  was  taken,  63  were  killed,  and  a  vast  quantity  of  arms 
taken  from  them.     Those  who  escaped  deserted  from  the  Mexican  army. 

9  . 


130  APPENDIX. 

This  ^vas  Cliristmas  day,  the  9tli  anniversary  of  Okcchobee.  Thus 
did  the  Missouri  voluntetMs  confirm  upon  liini  the  great  lie  uttered  against 
them  by  their  commander  on  that  former  day. 

Victory  hastened  our  marches.  On  the  moniinu  of  the  27th,  we  entered 
El  Paso.  Awaiting  the  arrival  of  artillery,  we  lingered  six  weeks  in  the 
delicious  settlements  of  El  Paso.  About  20,000  Mexicans  here  cultivate 
the  grape,  and  enjoy  much  prosperity  and  a  delicious  climate. 

On  the  9th  of  February,  we  moved  on  to  Chihuahua.  The  interval,  280 
miles,  if  seen  by  you  who  inhabit  this  our  verdant  land,  would  be  pro- 
nounced a  howling  desert,  such  is  its  austere  and  forbidding  aridity — 
Sahara  does  not  exceed  it — -Joniadas  of  75  miles,  without  water,  wood,  or 
grass — gravel,  sand,  and  rocks  possess  it  merely — benumbing  cold  at  night, 
at  mid-day  hot  and  dusty. 

On  the  27th,  we  reached  Sous,  40  miles  from  Chihuahua :  midway 
between  Sous  and  Chihuahua  is  Sacramento :  here  is  the  only  water  in 
that  whole  distance,  and  between  us  and  the  opportunity  to  slake  our 
thirst,  was  entrenched  the  Mexican  army. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  28th,  was  gained  the  marvellous  victory  of 
Sacramento,  in  which  your  soldiers  covered  themselves  with  imperishable 
glory.  On  the  following  and  succeeding  days  our  whole  column  entered 
Chihuahua. 

At  Chihuahua  we  heard  with  exultation  of  the  gallant  conduct  of  the 
Cole  Infantry  and  Fisher's  Artiller}^,  at  Caiiada  and  Taos — of  their  good 
discipline  and  gallant  bearing  whilst  in  garrison  at  Santa  Fe.  These  were 
soldiers  of  the  first  requisition,  and  tried  with  us  the  opening  campaign  of 
the  prairies.  Let  us  here,  then,  as  at  Chihuahua,  crown  with  the  same 
chaplet  the  soldiers  of  Erazito,  Sacramento,  Caiiada,  Taos,  and  El  Paso — 
sharing  alike  the  honors  won  by  all. 

During  two  months  did  the  Missouri  column  hold  undisturbed  pos- 
session of  the  metropolis  of  Chihuahua,  and  control  its  dependencies. 
Insurrections  planned  both  here  and  at  El  Paso  were  anticipated  and 
nipped  in  the  germ.  American  traders  and  messengers  traversed  the  State 
unharmed.  It  had  been  said  that  so  small  a  force  could  not  hold  Chihua- 
hua.    It  was  done,  and  that  with  a  firm  and  tranquil  grasp. 

But  the  period  of  our  service  neared  its  close.  From  our  own  govern- 
ment not  a  whisper  had  reached  us  from  tlie  outstart — no  pay — no  ammu- 
nition (our  cartridges  were  made  of  powder  taken  at  Brazito) — no 
reinforcements — no  money — no  reminiscence  of  our  own  existence  was 
discerniVjle. 

General  Wool  hail  deflected  from  his  first  \\\\.v\\{'u)\\i^.-M\([iiec<'r  appeared 
at  Chihuahua.     On  the  28th  of  April,  Cliiliualiua  was  evacuated,  in  obe- 


MEXICAN    WAIi.  131 

dience  to  an  order  from  General  Taylor,  that  we  should  join  his  column 
at  Bucna  Vista  and  Monterey. 

The  march  to  Monterey,  G50  miles,  was  accomplished  in  29  days — 17 
pieces  of  artillery,  with  their  caissons,  and  a  train  of  200  heavy  wagons, 
accompanied  us.  It  was  upon  this  descent  from  the  table  lands  to  the 
maritime  region,  that  our  sufferings,  from  brackish  water,  suffocating  dust, 
night  marches  rendered  necessary  by  long  stretches  and  heat,  were  most 
excessive. 

Here,  too,  at  El  Paso,  near  the  city  of  Parras,  was  won  a  glorious 
victory  over  the  Camanche  Indians,  by  a  small  handful  of  our  gallant  men, 
led  by  Captain  Reid :   17  Indians  bit  the  dust. 

From  the  outposts  of  the  "southern  army,"  beyond  Buena  Vista,  we 
reached  Camargo,  on  the  Rio  del  Norte,  in  nine  days — passing  through 
the  cities  of  Saltillo,  Monterey,  and  through  Ceralvo. 

Since  the  departui*e  of  the  Missouri  column  from  the  western  border  up 
to  our  return  to  our  homes  by  the  eastern  border  of  our  State,  we  have 
traversed  the  full  distance  of  7500  miles. 

No  position  of  equal  importance  to  that  of  Chihuahua  has  ever  yet 
been  held  by  the  United  States  in  Mexico,  nor  anywhere  by  so  small  a 
force.  One  thousand  Missourians,  occupying  Chihuahua,  cut  off  from 
Mexico,  New  Mexico,  and  the  two  Californias  in  their  rear. 

Fearing  perpetually  to  be  invaded,  the  States  of  Durango  and  Sonora 
withheld  from  the  Mexican  government  all  men,  military  supplies,  or 
financial  aid.  The  ample  wealth,  resources,  mints,  cannon,  foundries,  and 
materiel  of  Chihuahua  wei'e  converted  to  our  uses. 

Thus,  then,  by  this  central  position,  were  held  in  check  and  severed  from 
the  enemy  three-fifths  of  the  territorial  soil  of  the  republic  of  Mexico, 
and  500,000  of  her  population. 

This  position,  too,  commands  the  great  and  magnificent  road  which  leads 
down  the  central  table  lands,  through  the  capitals  of  Durango,  Zacatecas, 
Aguas-Calientes,  Leon,  Guanaxuato,  and  Queretaro,  to  the  city  of  Mexico. 
This  route  is  unobstructed  by  mountains,  and  leads  to  Mexico  through  an 
abundant  and  very  healthy  region.  It  is  the  one  by  which  the  traders 
from  Missouri  annually  visit  the  great  "  fair  of  San  Juan"  and  the  city  of 
Mexico. 

It  appears  to  me  that  the  column  of  Missouri  is  the  only  one  which  has 
made  war  with  effect  and  obtained  from  it  worthy  results.  To  be  sure,  our 
government  has  thrown  them  away,  as  unworthy  of  notice,  and  worthless  ; 
but  this  does  not  lessen  our  merits. 

In  June,  '46,  when  the  INIissouri  column  left  Fort  Leavenworth,  Gen- 
eral Taylor's  column  was  at  Camargo,  ready  to  march  on  Mexico  by  the 


132  AI'I'EXDIX. 

route  of  San  Luis  Potosi.  In  June,  '47,  the  Missouri  column,  returning 
by  the  Gulf,  found  General  Taylor's  advance  posts  at  Buena  Vista,  ONLT 
NINE  days'  march  in  advance  of  that  same  Camargo. 

To  be  sure,  Taylor's  column  had  won  great  victories ;  but  so  also  had 
the  column  of  Missouri,  against  a  variety  of  enemies. 

The  southern  army  lay  helpless  upon  an  unimportant  edge  of  Mexico, 
hemmed  in  by  guerrillas — such  as  we  found  it,  its  expenses  amounted  to 
SI  ,000, 000  per  week.  75,000  American  soldiers  had  been  sent  in  and 
out  of  Mexico  in  a  single  year  in  this  direction. 

The  numbers  of  soldiers  had  borne  a  small  ratio  to  those  employed  in 
men-of-war,  in  fleets  of  transports  and  steamers,  at  the  depots,  and  with 
wagon  trains.  F'our  months  had  been  consumed  advancing  from  the  Del 
Norte  to  Monterey,  280  miles.  Five  months  from  Monterey  to  Saltillo, 
80  miles.     Hence  forward  all  has  been  complete  stagnation. 

The  possessions  of  the  southern  army  are  strictly  confined  to  the  cities 
of  Monterey  and  Saltillo.  A  whole  army  is  consumed  in  guarding  from 
massacre  and  destruction  the  trains  passing  along  the  road  that  connects 
them  with  the  Del  Norte,  only  300  miles. 

Tfie  column  of  Missoun  supported  itself  from  the  Mexican  purse. 
After  fulfilling  its  orders  completely,  by  the  conquest  of  the  States  of 
New  Mexico,  Chihuahua,  the  two  Californias,  and  punishing  many  Indian 
nations — closing  its  onward  progress  at  Chihuahua,  we  have  marched  COO 
miles  from  the  heart  of  the  Mexican  territory,  coming  out  te  Generals 
Taylor  and  Wool. 

Finally,  one  great  result  is  proved  by  these  various  campaigns.  It  is  hy 
the  route  of  the  plains  and  the  table  lands  of  Mexico  ONLY,  that  the  Mexi- 
can nation  can  be  conquered  and  held  in  subjection  by  the  Americans. 

The  configuration  of  the  country,  the  health,  the  supplies  upon  the 
route,  its  shortness,  and  the  extraordinary  results  accomplished  by  the 
Missouri  column,  demonstrate  this.  The  slender  means  and  small  cost  of 
our  campaign  add  more  strong  proofs  of  this. 

FeMow-cowitrymen  and  Ladies  :  The  soldiers  of  the  first  requisition  from 
Missouri,  excepting  those  who  sleep  forever  beneath  the  shadows  of  the 
Sierra  Madre,  have  returned  to  receive  the  greetings  of  their  friends  and 
kindred.  We  bring  with  us  the  spoil  of  the  enemy  as  trophies  of  our 
victories. 

These  assemblies — these  crowds  of  fair  women  and  brave  men — these 
complimentary  festivals  and  flattering  words  resounding  in  our  ears  from 
every  village  and  from  every  cabin,  are  the  gratifying  rewards  of  our 
efibrts  and  our  deeds. 

Thus  are  our  long-suspended  hopes  and  painful  anxieties  consummated 


MEXICAN    WAR.  133 

by  a  deep  and  gratifying  sense  of  triumph.  So  have  we  performed  our 
task,  and  such  is  our  munificent  reward. 

Suffer  me  to  say, — as  one  elevated  by  their  own  suffrages  to  an  impor- 
tant command  among  them, — as  well  to  my  fellow-soldiers  as  to  those  here 
present  who  have  sons,  or  bi'others,  or  friends  among  them,  that  I  found 
at  all  times  the  most  admirable  discipline:  the  most  prompt  and  spon- 
taneous obedience — at  all  times  a  modest  unassuming  bravery,  which  met 
thirst  and  cold  and  starvation  and  exhausting  night  marches,  with  songs 
and  gayety  and  merriment. 

Displayed  on  the  field  and  in  the  hour  of  battle  by  a  quiet  anxiety  for 
the  charge,  and  then  plunging  down  upon  the  enemy  with  a  fiery  fury 
which  overwhelmed  them  with  defeat  and  stung  them  with  despair. 
These  qualities  they  adorned  with  moderation  after  victory,  and  clemency 
to  the  vanquished. 

But  the  career  of  your  soldiers,  so  happily  begun,  closes  not  here. 
May  they  not  yet  devote  their  young  energies  to  a  country  which  they 
ardently  love,  and  which  thus  generously  illustrates  its  love  for  them  ? 

War  has  been  to  our  progressive  nation  the  fruitful  season  of  generating 
new  offspring  to  our  confederation. 

During  the  Revolution,  little  armies,  issuing  from  the  Alleghanies,  passed 
over  Kentucky,  the  Northwest  Territory,  and  Tennessee.  These  new  coun- 
tries had  been  reconnoitred  and  admired.  With  hardy  frames,  confirmed 
health,  and  recruited  by  a  year  or  two  of  peace,  these  soldiers  returned 
to  occupy  the  choice  spots  which  had  been  their  bivouac  and  camping- 
grounds.  From  the  campaigns  of  war  grew  the  settlements  of  peace,  and 
populous  States  displaced  the  wilderness.  Another  war  came  with  another 
generation — armies  penetrated  Michigan,  upper  Illinois,  and  into  Missis- 
sippi. The  great  Mississippi,  crossed  at  many  points,  ceased  to  be  a  bar- 
rier, and  the  steamboat  appeared,  plowing  its  yellow  flow.  Five  great 
States  and  2,000,000  of  people  emblazon  its  western  bank. 

And  now,  again,  have  come  another  generation  and  another  war.  Your 
little  armies  have  scaled  the  eternal  barriers  of  the  "Mother  Mountain" 
of  the  New  World,  and,  buried  for  a  time  in  the  mazes  of  its  manifold 
peaks  and  ridges,  have  debouched  at  many  points  upon  the  briny  beach 
of  the  Pacific. 

Passing  round  by  the  great  oceans,  a  military  marine  simultaneously 
strikes  the  shore  and  lends  them  aid.  Thus  is  the  wilderness  recon- 
noitred in  war,  its  geography  illustrated,  and  its  conquerors  disciplined. 

Your  soldiers,  resting  for  a  time  at  home,  will  sally  forth  again,  and, 
■wielding  the  weapons  of  husbandry,  give  to  you  roads  that  will  nurture 
commerce  and  a  sisterhood  of  maritime  States  on  the  new-fonnd  n^ean. 


134  APPENDIX. 

We  return,  then,  to  tlie  bosom  of  our  glorious  State,  to  bury  our  bound- 
ing hearts  in  the  jo3^s  of  responsive  grutulatious.  Coming  from  arid 
wastes  and  the  unrelieved  sterility  of  mountains  and  plains,  to  scan  again 
the  verdant  fields  and  mantling  forests  of  our  mother-land,  which  of  us 
all  does  not  apostrophize,  with  glowing  hearts,  our  native  scenes  ? — Hail  to 
Columbia,  land  of  our  birth — hail  to  her  magnificent  domain — hail  to 
her  generous  people — hail  to  her  matrons  and  her  maidens — hail  to  her 
victorious  soldiers — all  hail  to  her  as  she  is — hail  to  the  sublime  destiny 
which  bears  her  on  through  peace  and  war,  to  make  the  limits  of  the 
continent  her  own,  and  to  endure  forever  ! 


IX. 
SPEECH    OF    COL.   WILLIAM    GILPIN 

ON  THE  SUBJECT  OF  THE  PACIFIC  RAILWAY.  FIRST  SPOKEN  AT  THE  CAMP  OF 
FIVE  THOUSAND  CALIFORNIA  EMIGRANTS,  AT  WAKERUSA  (NOW  THE  CITY  OF 
LAWRENCE),  KANSAS.  REPEATED  AT  INDEPENDENCE,  MISSOUKI,  AT  A  MASS 
MEETING  OF   THE   CITIZENS   OF  JACKSON  COUNTY,  HELD    NOVEJIBER  5,  1849. 

It  is  with  profound  pleasure,  Mr.  Chainuan,  that  I  address  my  fellow- 
citizens  here  assembled  to  respond  approvingly  to  the  National  Conven- 
tion at  St.  Louis. 

Having  shared  with  the  pioneers  from  Missouri  in  the  original  explora- 
tion and  settlement  of  Oregon  and  California — having  since  been  one 
among  those  soldiers  who  carried,  during  war,  our  national  flag  across 
the  Sierra  Madi-e,  and  planted  it  upon  the  waters  descending  to  the  Pacific 
(never  thence  to  recede) — I  greet  with  enthusiastic  joy  these  civic  move- 
ments of  the  people  to  consummate,  with  the  great  works  of  peace,  what 
war  and  exploration  have  opened. 

Diplomacy  and  war  have  brought  to  us  the  completion  of  our  territory 
and  peace.  From  this  we  advance  to  the  results.  These  results  are, 
for  the  present,  the  imperial  expansion  of  our  republic  to  the  other  ocean : 
fraternity  with  Asia :  and  the  construction  across  the  centre  of  our  ter- 
ritory, from  ocean  to  ocean,  of  a  great  iron  pathway,  specially  national 
to  us,  international  to  the  northern  continents  of  America,  Asia,  and 
Europe. 

In  approaching  a  discussion  of  a  "  National  Railroad  from  the  Missis- 
sippi to  the  Pacific,"  infinite  in  number  and  variety  are  the  matters  which 
swarm  up  and  demand  to  array  themselves  in  its  advocacy.  Thus  do  I 
feel  embarrassed  how  to  say  such  things  only  as  are  true  and  sensible  in 
them,selves,  as  well  as  interesting  to  my  hearers  :  let  me,  then,  sketch  what 
I  may  say  under  the  following  heads  : — 

1st.  The  national  character  of  this  work,  and  its  necessity, 

2d.  Its  practicability,  and  the  present  capacity  of  the  nation. 

3d.  The  time  and  manner  of  its  construction. 

Progress,  political  liberty,  equality.  These,  the  most  ancient  and  car- 
dinal rights  of  human  society,  perplexed  in  the  obscurity  of  military  des- 
potism, and  almost  lost  for  many  centuries,  are  now  struggling  throughout 

135 


136  Ari'EMJix. 

the  world  to  re-establish  their  pre-eminence.  In  America  they  occupy 
the  vantage-ground ;  for  sovereignty  resides  in  the  sufirage,  and  with  us 
it  is  universal. 

Progress,  then,  in  America  has  tlie  intensity  of  the  whole  people,  show- 
ing itself  in  forms  as  infinite  as  the  thoughts  of  the  human  mind.  But 
it  is  to  that  department  of  progress  which  creates  for  us  new  States  in  the 
wilderness,  and  expands  the  area  of  our  Republic,  that  I  here  restrict 
myself  Let  us  understand  this ;  what  it  is  at  the  present  hour — what 
stimulates — what  retards  it. 

Since  1C08  we  have  grown  from  nothing  to  22,000,000  :  from  a  gar- 
den-patch, to  be  thirty  States  and  many  Territories !  This,  with  agricul- 
ture, manufactures,  commerce,  power,  and  happiness,  is  our  progress  so 
far. 

The  annual  yield  in  money  of  this  agriculture  and  manufactures  is  now 
$2,000,000,000.  This  commerce  vexes  all  the  waters  and  penetrates  to 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth.  This  power,  tranquilly  complete  on  our  own 
continent,  compels  peaceful  deference  abroad.  This  happiness,  so  benefi- 
cently felt  at  home,  recruits  us  with  the  oppressed  of  all  nations. 

But  the  life  of  a  nation  is  long.  Unlike  human  life,  briefly  extin- 
guished  in  the  grave,  a  nation  breathes  ever  on  with  the  vigor  of  genera- 
tions of  men  daily  arriving  at  maturity,  and  then  departing.  A  nation 
has  then  a  normal  law  of  growth  ;  and  it  is  this  law  which  every  American 
citizen  ought  familiarly  to  understand,  for  obedience  to  it  is  the  first  duty 
of  patriotism. 

Up  to  the  year  1840,  the  progress  whereby  twenty-six  States  and  four 
Territories  had  been  established  and  peopled,  had  amounted  to  a  solid 
strip  of  tu:cnty-Jive  miles  in  depth,  added  annually,  along  the  western  face 
of  the  Union  from  Canada  to  the  Gulf. 

This  occupation  of  wild  territory,  acoiinmlatiiig  outward  like  the 
annual  rings  of  our  forest  trees,  proceeds  witli  all  the  solemnity  of  a 
I'rovidential  ordinance.  It  is  at  this  moment  sweeping  onward  to  the 
I'acitic  with  accelerated  activity  and  force,  like  a  deluge  of  men,  rising 
unabatediy,  and  daily  pushed  onward  by  the  hand  of  God. 

It  is  from  the  sfafistics  accumulated  in  the  bureaux  at  Washington 
(the  decennial  census,  sales  of  public  lands,  assessments  of  State  and 
national  taxes)  that  we  deduce  with  certainty  the  law  of  this  deluge  of 
human  beings,  which  nothing  interrupts  and  no  power  can  stop. 

Fronting  the  Union  on  every  side  is  a  vast  arinT/  of  pioneers.  This 
vast  body,  numbering  500,000  at  least,  has  the  movements  and  obeys  the 
discipline  of  a  perfectly  organized  military  force.  It  is  momentarily  re- 
cruited by  single  individuals,  families,  and,  in  some  instances,  coniniunilies, 


THE  PACIFIC  RAILWAY.  137 

from  every  village,  county,  city,  and  State  in  the  Union,  and  by  emi- 
grants from  other  nations. 

Each  man  in  this  moving  throng  is  in  force  a  platoon.  He  makes  a 
farm  upon  the  outer  edge  of  the  settlements,  which  he  occupies  for  a  year, 
and  then  sells  to  the  leading  files  of  the  mass  pressing  up  to  him  from 
behind. 

He  again  advances  twenty-five  miles,  renews  his  farm,  is  again  over- 
taken, and  again  sells.  As  individuals  fall  out  from  tlie  front  rank,  or  fix 
themselves  permanently,  others  rush  from  behind,  pass  to  the  front,  and 
assail  the  wilderness  in  their  turn. 

Previous  to  the  late  war  with  Mexico,  this  busy  throng  was  engaged  at 
one  point  in  occupying  the  peninsula  of  Florida  and  lands  vacated  by 
emigrant  Indian  tribes — at  another  in  reaching  the  copper  region  of  Lake 
Superior — in  absorbing  Iowa  and  Wisconsin. 

From  this  very  spot  had  gone  forth  a  forlorn  hope  to  occupy  Oregon 
and  California :  Texas  was  thus  annexed :  the  Indian  country  pressed 
upon  its  flanks  ;  and  spy  companies  reconnoitring  New  and  Old  Mexico. 

Even  then,  obeying  that  mysterious  and  uncontrollable  impulse  which 
drives  our  nation  to  its  goal,  a  body  of  the  hardiest  race  that  ever  faced 
varied  and  unnumbered  privations  and  dangers  embarked  upon  the  trail 
to  the  Pacific  coast,  forced  their  way  to  the  end,  encountering  and  defy- 
ing dangers  and  difiiculties  unparalleled,  with  a  courage  and  success  the 
like  to  which  the  world  has  not  heretofore  seen. 

Thus,  then,  overland  sweeps  this  tide-wave  of  population,  absorbing  in 
its  thundering  march  the  glebe,  the  savages,  and  the  wild  beasts  of  the 
wilderness,  scaling  the  mountains  and  debouching  down  upon  the  sea- 
board. 

Upon  the  high  Atlantic  sea-coast,  the  pioneer  force  has  thrown  itself 
into  ships,  and  found  in  the  ocean-fisheries  food  for  its  creative  genius. 
The  whaling  fleet  is  the  marine  force  of  the  pioneer  army. 

These  two  forces,  by  land  and  sea,  have  both  worked  steadily  onward 
to  the  North  Pacific.  They  now  reunite  in  the  harbors  of  Oregon  and 
California,  about  to  bring  into  existence  upon  the  Pacific  a  commercial 
grandeur  identical  with  that  which  has  followed  them  upon  the  Atlantic. 

National  wars  stimulate  progress,  for  they  are  the  consequence  of  indis- 
creet opposition  and  jealousy  of  its  march — and  because  in  these  periods 
of  excitement  the  adventurous  brush  through  the  cobweb  laws  spun  by 
the  metaphysics  of  peace.  Then  it  is  that  the  young  ^ic»Hee?-s,  entering 
the  armies  of  the  frontier,  rush  out  and  reconnoitre  the  unpruned  wilder- 
ness. 

During  the   Revolution,  little  armies,   issuing  down   the  Alleghanies. 


138  Ai'i-E.snix. 

passed  over  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  the  Northwest  Territory.  These 
new  countries  were  reconnoitred  and  admired.  AVith  hardy  frames,  con- 
fii-med  heahh,  and  recruited  by  a  year  or  two  of  peace,  these  soldiers 
returned  to  occupy  the  choice  spots  whicli  liad  been  their  bivouac  and 
campiuir-jiTounds. 

From  tlie  campaigns  of  war  grew  the  settlements  of  peace,  and  pdpulous 
States  displaced  the  wilderness. 

Another  war  came  with  another  generation.  Armies  penetrated  into 
jNIichigan,  upper  Illinois,  and  through  Mississippi.  The  great  Mississippi 
River,  crossed  at  many  points,  ceased  to  be  a  barrier,  and  the  steamboat 
appeared,  plowing  its  yellow  flood.  Five  great  States,  Jive  Territories,  and 
three  millions  of  people  now  emblazon  its  western  side ! 

And  now  again  have  come  another  generation  and  another  war.  Your 
armies  have  scaled  the  icy  barriers  of  the  '^Mother  Mountain'  and  the 
Andes.  Hid  for  a  time  in  the  mazes  of  their  manifold  peaks  and  ridges, 
they  have  issued  out  at  many  points  upon  the  beach  of  the  blue  Pacific. 
Passing  round  by  the  great  oceans,  a  military  marine  simultaneously  strikes 
the  shore  and  lends  them  aid.  Thus  is  the  wilderness  reconnoitred  in 
war,  its  geography  illustrated,  and  its  conquerors  disciplined. 

Your  young  soldiers,  resting  for  a  moment  at  home,  resuming  the  civic 
wreath  and  weapons  of  husbandry,  have  sallied  forth  again  to  give  to  you 
great  roads  for  commerce  and  a  sisterhood  of  maritime  States  on  the  new- 
found ocean. 

Only  four  years  ago,  the  nation,  misled  by  prejudices  artfully  instilled 
into  the  general  mind,  regarded  the  great  Western  wilds  uninhabitable,  and 
the  new  ocean  out  of  reach.  War  came:  100,000  soldiers,  and  as  many 
citizens,  went  forth,  penetrated  everywhere,  and  returned  to  relate  in  every 
open  ear  the  wonderful  excellence  of  the  climates  and  countries  they  had 
seen. 

Hence  have  come  already  these  new  States,  this  other  seaboard,  and  the 
renewed  vivacity  of  progress  with  which  the  general  heart  now  palpitates. 
Will  this  cease  or  slacken  ?  Has  the  pouring  forth  of  the  stream  from 
Europe  ever  ceased  since  the  day  of  Columbus  ?  Has  the  grass  obliterated 
the  trails  down  the  Alleghanies  or  across  the  Mississippi?  Rather  let  him 
who  doubts  seat  liiniself  upon  the  bank  of  our  magnificent  river  and  await 
the  running  dry  of  its  y<'ll<iw  waters;  for  sooner  shall  he  see  this,  than  a 
cessaticin  in  the  crowd  imw  fldwing  loose  to  the  western  seaboard  ! 

tif)ldiHdug:  lumber  is  nmiiufactured  :  pastoral  and  arable  agriculture 
grow  apace  ;  a  marine  flashes  into  existence :   connnerce  resounds :  the  fish- 
eries are  prosecuted  :  vessels  arc  liuilt :  steam  pants  tlinmgh  all  the  waters, 
lilach  int<'rest  stimulating  all  tin;   rest,  and   jierpctiially  creating  novel- 


THE   PACIFIC  RAILWAY.  139 

ties,  a  career  is  commenced  to  which,  as  it  ghmces  across  the  Pacific,  the 
human  eye  assigns  no  term. 

The  distance  from  the  top  of  tlie  Sierra  Madre  (Rocky  Mountains), 
where  you  leave  behind  the  waters  flowing  to  the  Atlantic,  is  everywhere 
some  1500  miles.  The  topographical  character  of  this  tiUramontane 
region  is  very  grand  and  characteristic.  It  is  identical  with  the  region  at 
the  sources  of  the  La  Plata,  Amazon,  and  Magdalena  of  South  America, 
but  more  immense. 

Sketched  by  its  great  outlines,  it  is  simply  this  :  The  chain  of  the 
Andes,  debouching  north  from  the  Isthmus,  opens  like  the  letter  Y  into 
two  primary  chains  (^Cordilleras). 

On  the  riffht  the  Sierra  Madre,  trending  along  the  coast  of  the  Mexi- 
can Grulf,  divides  the  northern  continent  almost  centrally,  forming  an  un- 
broken water-shed  to  Behring's  Strait.  On  the  left,  the  Andes  follows 
the  coast  of  the  Pacific,  warps  around  the  Gulf  of  California,  and,  passing 
along  the  coast  of  California  and  Oregon  (under  the  name  of  Sierra  Nevada) 
terminates  also  near  Behring's  Strait. 

The  immense  interval  between  these  chains  is  a  succession  of  intra- 
montane  basins,  seven  in  number,  and  ranging  from  south  to  north.  The 
whole  forms  the  Great  Plateau  of  the  Table  Lands. 

First,  is  the  "  Basin  of  the  City  of  Mexico,"  receiving  the  interior 
drainage  of  both  Cordilleras,  which  waters,  having  no  outlet  to  either 
ocean,  are  dispersed  again  by  evaporation. 

Second,  the  "  Bolson  de  Mapimi,"  collecting  into  the  Laguna  the 
streams  draining  many  States,  from  San  Luis  Potosi  to  Coahuila,  also 
without  any  outflow  to  either  ocean. 

Third,  the  "  Basin  of  the  Del  Norte,"  whose  vast  area  feeds  the  Rio 
del  Norte,  the  Conchos  and  Pecos.  These,  concentrated  into  the  Rio 
Grande  del  Norte  behind  the  Sierra  Madre,  have,  by  their  united  volume, 
burst  through  its  wall  and  found  an  outlet  towards  the  Atlantic.  The 
geological  character  of  this  basin,  its  altitude,  its  configuration  and  locality, 
all  assign  it  this  position,  as  distinguishing  it  from  all  others  contributing 
their  waters  to  the  Atlantic. 

Fourth,  the  "  Basin  of  the  Great  Colorado  of  the  West."  This  im- 
mense basin  embraces  above,  the  great  rivers  Rio  Verde  and  Rio  Grande, 
whose  confluent  waters,  penetrating  the  mighty  Cordillera  of  the  Andes 
athwart  from  base  to  base,  discharge  themselves  into  the  Gulf  of  Cali- 
fornia. Into  this  sublime  gorge  (the  Ca'^on  of  the  Colorado)  the  human 
eye  has  never  swept,  for  an  interval  of  575  miles :  so  stern  a  character 
does  Nature  assume  where  such  stupendous  mountains  resist  the  passage 
of  such  mighty  rivers. 


140  ^  APPENDIX. 

Fifth,  the  '•  Basil]  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake,"  like  the  Caspian  of  Asia, 
containing  many  small  basins  within  one  great  rim,  and  losing  its  scattered 
waters  by  evaporation,  has  no  outflow  to  either  ocean. 

Sixth,  the  "  Basin  of  the  Columbia,"  lying  across  the  northern  flanks 
of  the  two  last,  and  grand  above  them  all  in  position  and  configuration. 
Many  great  rivers,  besides  the  Snake  and  Upper  Columbia,  descend 
from  the  gi'eat  arc  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  where  it  circles  towards  the  north- 
west from  the  43d  to  Ihe  52d  degree,  flowing  from  east  to  west,  and  con- 
centrating above  the  Cascades  into  a  single  trunk.  It  here  strikes  the 
mighty  Cordillera  of  the  Andes  (narrowed  to  one  ridge),  and  disgorges 
itself  through  this  sublime  pass  at  once  into  the  open  Pacific. 

It  is  here,  descending  by  the  grade  of  this  river  the  whole  distance 
from  the  rim  of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi  and  through  the  Andes  to 
the  Pacific,  that  the  great  debouch  of  the  American  continent  towards  the 
west  is  found.  Here  will  be  the  pathway  of  future  generations,  as  the  people 
of  the  Old  World  pass  down  the  Mediterranean  and  out  by  Gibraltar. 

Above,  the  "  Basin  of  Frazer  River"  forms  a  seventh  of  the  Table 
Lands.  This  has  burst  a  canon  through  the  Andes,  and  like  the  fourth 
and  sixth  basins,  sends  its  waters  to  the  Pacific. 

With  the  geography  of  the  more  northern  region  we  are  imperfectly 
acquainted,  knowing,  however,  that  from  Puget's  Sound  to  Behring's 
Strait,  the  wall  of  the  Andes  forms  the  beach  itself  of  the  Pacific,  whilst 
the  Sierra  Madre  forms  the  western  rim  of  the  basins  of  the  Saskatchewan 
of  Hudson  Bay  and  the  Athabasca  of  the  Arctic  Seas. 

Thus,  then,  briefly  we  arrive  at  this  great  cardinal  department  of  the 
geography  of  the  continent,  viz. :  The  Table  Lands — being  a  longitudi- 
nal section  (about  two-sevenths  of  its  whole  area) — intermediate  between 
the  two  oceans,  but  walled  off"  from  both,  and  having  but  three  outlets  for 
its  waters,  viz.,  the  caiions  of  the  llio  Grande,  the  Colorado,  and  the 
Columbia.- 

Columnar  basalt  forms  the  basement  of  this  whole  region,  and  volcanic 
action  is  everywhere  prominent.  Its  general  level,  ascertained  upon  the 
lakes  of  the  diff"erent  basins,  is  about  GOOO  feet  above  the  sea.  Rain 
seldom  falls,  and  timber  is  rare. 

The  ranges  of  mountains  which  separate  the  basins  are  often  rugged 
and  capped  with  perpetual  snow,  whilst  isolated  masses  of  great  height 
elevate  themselves  from  the  jdains.  This  whole  formation  abounds  in  the 
precious  metals.     Such  is  the  rcuion  of  the  Table  Lands. 

Beyond  these  is  the  maritime  region  ;  for  the  great  wall  of  the  Andes, 
receding  from  the  beach  of  the  Pacific,  leaves  between  itself  and  the  sea 
a  half-valley,  as  it  were,  forming  the  seaboard  slope  from  San  Diego  to  the 


THE  PACIFIC  RAILWAY.  141 

Straits  of  Juan  di  Fuca.  This  is  1200  miles  in  length  and  250  broad. 
Across  it  descend  to  the  sea  a  series  of  fine  rivers,  ranging  from  south 
to  north,  like  the  little  streams  descending  from  the  Alleghanies  to  the 
Atlantic. 

These  are  the  San  Gabriel,  the  Buenaventura,  the  San  Joakim  and 
Sacramento,  the  Kogue,  Tlameth,  and  Umqua  rivers,  the  Wallamette  and 
Columbia,  the  Cowlitz,  Chekalis,  and  Nasqually  of  Puget  Sound. 

This  resembles  and  balances  the  maritime  slope  of  the  Atlantic  side  of 
the  continent :  but  it  is  vastly  larger  superficially :  of  the  highest  agri- 
cultural excellence :  basaltic  in  formation  :  grand  beyond  the  powers  of 
description,  the  snowy  points  and  volcanoes  of  the  Andes  being  everywhere 
visible  from  the  sea,  whilst  its  climate  is  entirely  exempt  from  the  frosts 
of  winter. 

Such,  and  so  grand,  is  our  continent  towards  the  Pacific.  Let  us  turn 
our  glance  towards  the  Atlantic  and  Arctic  Oceans,  and  scan  the  geography 
in  our  front.  Four  great  valleys  appear,  each  one  drained  by  a  river  of 
the  first  magnitude. 

First.  The  Mississippi  Valley,  greatest  in  magnitude,  and  embracing 
the  heart  and  splendor  of  the  continent,  gathers  the  waters  of  1,500,000 
square  miles  and  sheds  them  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

2d.  The  St.  Lawrence,  whose  river  flows  into  the  North  Atlantic. 

3d.  The  Nelson  and  Severn  Rivers,  into  Hudson  Bay. 

4th.  The  great  valley  of  the  McKensie  Rivei-,  rushing  north  into  the 
Hyperborean  Sea. 

These  valleys,  everywhere  calcareous,  have  a  uniform  surface,  gently 
rolling,  but  destitute  of  mountains,  and  pass  into  one  another  by  dividing 
ridges,  which  distribute  its  own  waters  into  each,  but  whose  superior 
elevation  is  only  distinguishable  among  the  general  undulations,  by  the 
water-sheds  which  they  form. 

Around  the  whole  continent,  following  the  coasts  of  the  oceans,  runs  a 
rim  of  mountains,  giving  the  idea  of  a  vast  amphitheatre.  Through  this 
rim  penetrate  towards  the  south,  east,  and  north,  the  above  great  rivers 
only,  forming  at  their  debouches  the  natural  doors  of  the  interior  ;  but  no 
stream  penetrates  west  through  the  Sierra  Madre,  which  forms  an  un- 
broken water-shed  from  Magellan's  to  Behring's  Strait. 

Thus  we  find  more  than  three-fifths  of  our  continent  to  consist  of  a 
limitless  plain,  intersected  by  countless  navigable  streams,  flowing  every- 
where/rom  the  circumference  towards  common  centres  :  grouped  in  close 
proximity :  and  only  divided  by  what  connects  them  into  one  homogeneous 
plan. 

To  the  American  people,  then,  belongs  this  vast  interior  space,  covered 


142  APPENDIX. 

over  its  uiiifurm  surfiice  of  2.800,000  .square  miles,  with  the  richest 
calcareous  soil :  toucliing  the  snows  towards  the  north,  and  the  torrid 
heats  towards  the  south  :  bound  together  by  an  infinite  internal  naviga- 
tion :  of  a  temperate  climate :  and  constituting,  in  the  whole,  the  most 
magnificent  dwelling-place  marked  out  by  God  for  man's  abode. 

As  the  complete  beneficence  of  the  Almighty  has  thus  given  to  us, 
the  owners  of  the  continent,  the  great  natural  outlets  of  the  Mississijipi 
to  the  Gulf,  and  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  North  Atlantic,  so  is  it  left  to  a 
j)ious  and  grateful  people,  appreciating  this  goodness,  to  construct  through 
the  gorge  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  a  great  artificial  monument,  an  iron  path, 
a  National  Railway  to  the  Western  Sea. 

Here  we  perceive,  in  the  formation  of  the  American  continent,  a  sub- 
lime simplicity,  a  complete  economy  of  arrangement,  singular  to  itself, 
and  the  reverse  of  what  distinguishes  the  ancient  world.  To  understand 
this,  let  us  compare  them. 

Europe,  the  smallest  of  the  grand  divisions  of  the  land^  contains  in  its 
centre,  the  icy  masses  of  the  Alps ;  from  around  their  declivities  radiate 
the  large  rivers  of  that  continent :  the  Danube  directly  east  to  the 
Euxine ;  the  Po  and  Rhone,  south  to  the  Mediterranean ;  the  Rhine  to 
the  Northern  Ocean. 

"Walled  off  by  the  Pyrenees  and  Carpathians,  divergent  and  isolated, 
are  the  Tagus,  the  Elbe,  and  other  single  rivers,  affluents  of  the  Baltic, 
the  Atlantic,  the  Mediterranean,  and  the  Euxine. 

Descending  y?'om  common  radiant  points,  and  diverging  every  way  from 
one  another,  no  intercommunication  exists  between  the  rivers  of  Europe  : 
navigation  is  petty  and  feeble :  nor  have  art  and  commerce,  during  many 
centuries,  united  so  many  small  valleys,  remotely  isolated  by  impenetrable 
barriers. 

Jlcnce  upon  each  river  dwells  a  distinct  people,  differing  from  all  the 
rest  in  race,  language,  habits,  and  interests.  Though  often  politically 
amalgamated  by  conquest,  they  again  relapse  into  fragments,  from  innate 
geographical  incoherence.  The  history  of  these  nations  is  a  story  of 
perpetual  war  and  mutual  extermination. 

Exactly  similar  to  Europe,  though  grander  in  size  and  population,  is 
Asia.  From  the  stupendous  central  barrier  of  the  Himalayas  run  the 
four  great  rivers  of  China,  due  east,  to  discharge  themselves  beneath  the 
rising  sun  :  towards  the  south  run  the  rivers  of  Cochin  China,  the  Ganges 
and  the  Indus :  towards  the  ivest  the  rivers  of  the  Caspian :  and  north, 
through  Siberia  to  the  Arctic  Seas,  many  rivers  of  the  first  magnitude. 

During  fifty  centuries,  as  now,  the  Alps  and  Himalaya  Mountains 
have   proved   insuperable  barriers   to  the  amalgamation  of  the   nations 


THE   PACT  FIG  RAILWAY.  143 

around  their  bases,  and  dwelling-  in  tlie  valleys  whieli  radiate  from  their 
slopes. 

The  continent  of  Africa,  as  far  as  we  know  the  details  of  its  surface, 
is,  even  more  than  these,  split  into  disjointed  fragments. 

Thus  the  continents  of  the  Old  World  resemble  a  bowl  placed  bottom 
upwards,  which  scatters  everything  poured  upon  it,  whilst  Northern 
America,  right  side  uj),  receives  and  gathers  towards  its  centre  whatever 
falls  within  its  rim  ! 

Behold,  then,  the  FUTURE  of  America,  graven,  in  the  geographical  lines 
and  arteries  of  her  symmetrical,  ocean-bound  expanse !  Behold  it  fore- 
told in  the  oracular  prophecies  of  past  and  present  progress. 

In  geography  the  antithesis  of  the  Old  World,  in  society  it  will  be  the 
reverse.  Our  North  America  will  rapidly  attain  to  a  population  equal- 
ling that  of  the  rest  of  the  world  combined  :  forming  a  single  people, 
identical  in  manners,  language,  customs,  and  impulses :  preserving  the 
same  civilization,  the  same  religion :  imbued  with  the  same  opinions,  and 
having  the  same  political  liberties. 

Of  this  we  have  two  illustrations  now  under  our  eye  :  the  one  passing 
away,  the  other  advancing.  The  aboriginal  Indian  race,  among  whom, 
from  Darien  to  the  Esquimaux,  and  from  Florida  to  Vancouver's  Island, 
exists  a  perfect  identity  in  their  hair,  complexion,  features,  stature,  and 
language.  And  second,  in  the  instinctive  fusion  into  one  language  and 
one  new  race,  of  immigrant  Germans,  English,  French,  and  Spanish,  whose 
individuality  is  obliterated  in  a  single  generation  ! 

At  this  moment,  the  inar it ime policy,  planned  with  dark  genius,  and  pui*- 
sued  with  scrupulovis  selfishness,  palls  our  march.  Nothing  behind  us  in 
history  at  all  rivals  in  rapidity  of  growth,  in  wealth,  power,  and  splendor, 
those  States  masking  the  seaboard,  and  called  at  home  ^'^  the  Old  Thirteen^ 

Here  are  cities  (and  a  great  number  of  them)  surpassing,  at  one  cen- 
tury old,  those  of  a  thousand  years  upon  the  old  continents  ! 

The  States  have  swelled  as  fast.  This  admirable  greatness  is  due  to  the 
mastery  of  the  continent  which  they  exercise  by  majorities  in  the  national 
councils,  to  the  immense  income  of  revenue  which  they  thus  collect  and 
use,  and  to  their  monopoly  of  all  foreign  commerce. 

A  new  and  rival  seaboard — "  a  New  Tldrteen' — would  halve  and  dis- 
tribute all  of  these.  It  was  foreseen  how  progress,  travelling  centrally 
across  the  continent,  was  striding  point-blank  to  this  consummation.  To 
retard  this,  indefinitely,  arose  the  maritime  policy,  invented  by  sophistry, 
and  sustained  by  metaphysics. 

Mr.  Jeiferson  having,  with  consummate  prescience,  added  to  our  domain 
the  Louisiana  purchase  :  the  most  splendid  portion  of  the  habitable  globe: 


144  APPENDIX. 

hastened  to  give  it  population  and  a  maritime  wing  to  the  Pacific.  Ex- 
plorations under  Clarke  and  Lewis,  and  others,  followed  by  Aster's  enter- 
prise, opened,  forty  years  ago,  the  great  commercial  route  between  the 
oceans,  since  shut  up  by  the  maritime  policy,  but  now  reopened. 

These  were  checked  and  overthrown  by  the  exigencies  of  foreign  war. 
That  over,  the  discussion  of  a  route  to  Asia  was  revived  by  the  press  and 
in  Congress  :  Astor  sought  to  renew  his  enterprises,  and  aid  was  demanded 
from  the  government  by  the  people  of  the  West,  and  by  patriotic  indi- 
viduals in  the  East.  This  was  refused  by  the  policy  of  President  Monroe's 
administration,  in  whose  cabinet  were  conjoined  Messrs.  J.  Q.  Adams,  of 
Massachusetts,  and  J.  C.  Calhoun,  of  South  Carolina — subtle  statesmen 
of  the  most  penetrating  foresight  and  the  loftiest  ambition. 

Power  emigrates  as  time  rolls  on.  The  pride  and  fascination  of  its 
possession  linger  supremely  potent  in  the  human  heart.  From  this  pro- 
found source  has  sprung  the  unequitable  viaritime  policy,  arrayed  against 
the  march  of  progress  and  the  westward  migi'ation  of  power. 

Iha  former  State,  Massachusetts,  had  proclaimed  a  national  war  uncon- 
stitutional, and  initiated  at  Hartford  the  preparatory  plans  to  secede  from 
and  dissolve  the  Union.  The  latter,  South  Carolina,  has  done  the  same, 
pronouncing  the  general  power  of  taxation  unconstitutional  in  a  particular 
form  ;  and  now  again  appear  the  same  dreadful  threats  of  "  force  and 
terror,"  pronouncing  nnconstittUional  a  specific  legislation  for  the  Terri- 
tories. 

Behind  this  gorgon  of  alarm  (A^ullifcation),  and  unperceived  by  the 
general  mind,  lashed  into  dismay  and  distracted  by  "  terror  and  force," 
threatening  the  Union,  the  subtle  maritime  policy  has  been  riveted  down. 
Within  the  young  States,  the  public  glebe  has  been  held  by  the  central 
government  and  withheld  from  taxation.     Thus  is  State  revenue  cut  off. 

These  public  lands  are  held  at  a  tyrannical  price,  the  sales  made  cash, 
donations  of  homestead  rights,  pre-emption,  and  graduation  refused. 
Savages,  ejected  from  the  older  States,  have  been  bought  up  and  planted 
as  a  wall  along  the  western  frontier  and  across  the  line  of  progress.  These 
are  metaphysically  called  foreign  nations. 

Recently  there  has  been  given  to  the  soldiers  of  the  nation  a  bounty  of 
8100  in  money,  or  $200  in  land.  This  is  legislative  declaration  that  the 
price  is  100  per  cent,  above  their  highest  value. 

The  revenue  raised  from  the  customs  is  collected  at  the  seaports,  where 
the  expenses  of  collection  are  disbursed.  The  heavy  part  of  tins  revenue 
is  paid  by  the  agriculturists  of  the  West,  who  are  the  consumers.  83,000,000 
annually  of  direct  land  revenue  is  exclusively  paid  by  these  latter. 

But  where  is  this  splendid  income  of  8-10, 000,000,  thus  levied  for  the 


THE   PACIFIC  RAILWAY.  145 

most  part  from  ^Yestern  industry,  expended  ?  To  tlie  navy  is  devoted 
$9,00(),()(>0  (all  upon  the  tide-waters  of  the  seaboard).  To  the  civil  list 
$5,000,000 — all  there  also.  To  seaboard  improvements,  viz.  :  custom- 
houses, mints,  harbors,  breakwaters,  fortifications,  navy-yards,  light-houses, 
coast  survey,  post-offices,  armories,  etc.,  $2,500,000.  All  this  too  is  upon 
the  tide-icater. 

To  the  army  $5,000,000 — this  is  expended  on  a  military  academy,  ord- 
nance foundries,  four  artillery  regiments,  engineers — all  upon  the  seaboard. 
True  it  is  that  a  few  stingy  details  of  cavalry  and  infantry  are  posted  in 
shanties  upon  the  Western  frontier,  and  a  largess  of  half  a  million  sowed 
among  the  Indians.  But  the  single  fortress  of  "  Old  Point  Comfort" 
has  cost  more  than  the  sum  total  of  Western  military  structures. 

Thus  do  we  come  at  one  cardinal  item  of  7naritime  power — 840,000,000 
collected  annually  from  thirty  States,  of  which  $39,000,000  is  annually 
paid  out  to  thirteen  only !  Such  is  the  income  which  maritime  policy 
secures  to  itself  by  taxation. 

Further,  the  foreign  exports  and  imports  amount  to  $350,000,000  per 
annum — every  pound  of  this  leaves  our  shores  or  comes  to  us  in  the  ships 
of  these  maritime  States^  and  is  stored  at  their  seaports.  To  them,  then, 
belongs  the  complete  and  prodigious  monopoly  of  the  carrying  trade  of 
America ! 

Is  it  wonderful,  then,  that  a  policy  should  have  been  projected  with 
foresight  and  pursued  with  obstinate  will,  to  preserve  to  its  possessors  an 
income  so  splendid,  and  a  monopoly  of  such  infinite  profit  ?  With  these 
maritime  States,  too,  rests  the  political  mastery  of  the  continent :  because 
they  have  as  yet  always  had  the  majority  of  the  Houses  of  Congress,  and 
still  retain  that  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  in  spite  of  the  accession 
of  Texas,  Iowa,  and  Wisconsin,  which  have  changed  the  Senate. 

It  is  the  decennial  census  of  1850  which  will  give  in  the  thirty-third 
Congress  a  majority  to  this  great  indigenous  American  people,  residing 
within  the  mountains,  in  the  great  basins  of  the  continent.  To  them  will 
belong  the  glorious  task  to  give  to  the  public  domain  its  true,  patriotic 
use,  and  root  out  the  scorching  tyranny,  of  which  it  is  now  the  engine. 

To  make  taxation  and  the  expenditures  of  revenue  national  and  equal 
among  the  States  and  people.  To  pay,  not  grind,  the  pioneers.  To  reverse 
the  uses  of  the  national  wilderness,  so  that  its  glebe  shall  be  the  beneficent 
fountain  of  great  roads,  unlimited  agriculture,  population,  commerce,  and 
rich  States.  To  give  tis  maritime  rivalry,  and  a  neio  seaboard.  To  recon- 
cile the  white  man  and  the  Indian,  now  kept  by  infamous  laws  in  a  state 
of  implacable  feuds  and  mutual  piracy. 

It  is  very  wicked  that  our  government,  being  republican,  has  ravished 

1.) 


146  APPENDIX. 

republican  liberty  and  rights 'from  the  Indian,  and  re-enacted  for  his  race 
all  the  odious  inequalities  and  oppressions  of  feudality. 

The  set  purpose  of  maiitime  policy  to  crush  progress  developed  itself 
with  the  admission  into  the  Union  of  Missouri,  a  State  beyond  the  Mis- 
sissippi, and  .salient  upon  the  routes  and  rivers  towards  the  Pacific. 

A  wall  of  Indians  was  planted  along  the  frontier  from  the  Missouri  to 
the  Red  River.  These  foreign  nations !  were  planted  upon  soil  which 
they  could  not  sell.  Commerce  was  prohibited,  and  the  white  man  for- 
bidden entrance  under  penitentiary  imprisonment.  The  army,  its  duties 
reversed,  was  withdrawn  from  danger,  and  planted  on  the  line  to  bayonet 
back  the  pioneers. 

By  these  nefarious  sophistries  it  was  designed  to  fence  across  the 
pioneer  army  in  front.  Hush-money  to  the  amount  of  §85,000,000  was 
paid  to  get  these  Indians  out  of  the  older  States  for  the  use  of  the  fron- 
tier. In  combination  with  this  it  was  necessary  to  gain  a  maritime  ex- 
tension, and  the  national  purse  was  opened.  A  couple  of  thousand  Indians 
were  discovered  in  the  pocket  of  East  Florida — the  Seminoles  and  Micka- 
sukies. 

Ten  years  of  terrible  war,  during  which  100,000  military  emigrants 
and  $45,000,000  had  supplied  the  material  of  a  State  to  balance  Michi- 
gan, brought  about  a  treaty  allowing  those  tribes  to  remain  among  the 
Everglades !  During  this  time  Indian  piracies  swarmed  over  the  Great 
Plains  and  upon  the  commercial  roads  to  Mexico  and  the  mountains. 
Many  hundred  whites  and  innumerable  Indians  fell  beneath  the  toma- 
hawk. Protection,  military  police,  and  revenge  were  denied  at  Washing- 
ton. Not  a  dollar  was  here  disposable,  for  these  terrors  of  the  wilderness 
helped  the  policy  which  kept  it  so. 

The  reannexation  of  Texas  was  consummated.  This  was  a  maritime 
State,  extending  the  shell  of  maritime  influence  farther  round  the  conti- 
nent. Texas  owed  debts — some  87,000,00(J.  Her  public  lands  were 
speciously  left  to  her  to  pay  them — 208,000,000  of  acres,  by  valuation 
$260,000,000,  to  pay  §7,000,000  of  debts! 

Is  it,  then,  by  chance  or  by  design  that  the  great  domain  is  to  one 
State  the  source  of  imperial  revenues  and  advancement,  to  another  of 
poverty  and  repression  ?  Express  laws  of  Congress  produce  these  ex- 
tremes. 

To  understand  this  rightly,  let  us  examine  it.  The  soil  of  Missouri  is 
held,  until  sold,  at  §1.25  per  acre  by  the  central  government.  At  present 
8600,000  per  annum  is  extracted  in  specie  through  the  land  offices.  Thus 
are  we  impoverished.  Two-thirds  of  our  soil  is  withheld  from  State  taxa- 
tion.    As  real  estate  is  the  substantial  source  of  State  revenue,  no  public 


THE  PACIFIC  RAILWAY.  147 

enterprises,  no  geological  surveys,  no  internal  improvements,  not  even 
highways  and  bridges,  are  possible  in  Missouri. 

Our  insignificant  State  and  county  revenues  fall  with  onerous  weight 
upon  less  than  one-third  of  the  glebe  lands,  upon  personal  property,  and 
licenses.  The  disastrous  wreck  suffered  by  Mississippi,  Illinois,  and  other 
new  States  is  proof  enough  of  this. 

How  is  this  reversed  in  Texas  ?  An  immense  domain  fills  her  treasury 
— she  taxes  and  sells  for  taxes  at  will — unlimited  credit  and  resources 
invite  her  to  construct  the  greatest  works,  without  danger.  By  reducing 
and  graduating  the  price  of  lands,  she  invites  forth  the  agriculturists  of  our 
States,  and  warps  progress  towards  the  Gulf  On  the  pledge  of  her  public 
lands  she  may  herself  alone  procure  means  to  construct  a  railroad  to  the 
Pacific !  Across  the  western  frontier  is  unobstructed  access  to  the 
8,000,000  of  Mexicans !  Western  commerce,  then,  walled  in  and  made 
piracy  in  Missouri,  crushed  and  j)ersecuted,  must  migrate  hence  to  Texas. 

Again,  war  with  Mexico  arose.  This  was  a  land  war  of  armies,  be- 
tween nations  having  a  common  frontier  of  many  thousand  miles.  A 
single  American  army  of  30,000  cavalry  and  flying  artillery,  marching  by 
the  magnificent  road  from  Fort  Leavenworth,  passing  by  the  great  table 
lands  to  the  city  of  Mexico,  and  subsisting  their  animals  of  food  and 
transportation  upon  the  pastures,  would  have  conquered  and  held  all  the 
Mexican  States  in  eighteen  months. 

Forty  millions  of  expenditure  would  have  brought  peace  on  our  own 
dictation — great  roads  for  commerce  would  have  been  established  forever, 
and  the  disbursements  returned  to  us  in  the  ceded  territory.  A  war  thus 
economically  conducted,  however,  would  have  opened  the  avenue  and 
planted  central  States  to  the  new  seaboard. 

But  fleets  of  transports  must  plow  the  Gulf,  and  the  maritime  States 
of  Jacinto  and  Sierra  Madre  extend  to  embrace  Tampico.  One  hundred 
thousand  soldiers  were  sent  to  the  impracticable  entrance  by  Saltillo  and 
Potosi — one  hundred  millions  expended  upon  this  army,  which,  stagnating 
upon  the  waters  of  the  Rio  Grande,  never  passed  beyond  them  ;  for 
Saltillo  is  upon  an  affluent  of  the  Rio  Grande,  and  only  250  miles  from 
its  main  bank.  Thus  was  profligately  re-enacted  the  drama  of  the  State 
of  Florida. 

The  maritime  policy  \)\endi&  the  double  object  of  blocking  up  the  inte- 
rior, and  extending  the  seaboard  in  a  shell  around  the  continent.  For 
this  the  navy  is  enormously  increased  and  the  army  emasculated.  Enter- 
prises in  the  ce??fra?  States  are  marred,  but  those  of  the  seaboard  sus- 
tained directly  from  the  National  Treasury.  Of  this  let  us  take  a  recent 
illustration. 


148  .  APPEXDIX. 

A  proposition  was  submitted  to  tiao  Twenty-ninth  Congress,  early  in  its 
first  session  (1845-46)  to  carry  onward  to  the  coast  of  California  and 
Oregon,  and  to  Santa  Fe,  motttJilj/,  the  mail  which  comes  tri-weekly  to 
our  city  of  Independence. 

A  law  authorizing  the  Postmaster-General  to  let  the  contract  for  such 
an  extended  mail-route  to  the  lowest  bidder,  in  the  ordinary  way,  was 
alone  required.  Contractors  were  ready  to  execute  the  whole  undertaking 
for  $50,000  per  annum,  carrying  the  mails  in  fifteen  days^  making  the 
time  from  ocean  to  ocean  tv:enty-five  days. 

This  proposition,  admiralile  for  its  practicability,  its  economy  in  time 
and  cost,  was  belabored  by  orators  and  suppressed.  To  this  hour  all  over- 
land mails  are  prohibited  by  statute. 

At  this  same  session  of  this  same  Congress,  and  under  the  promptings 
of  these  orators,  the  government  was,  by  statute,  made  the  partner  with 
ship-building  companies  of  New  York  City.  To  construct  four  mail 
steamers,  the  sum  of  $1,250,000  was  advanced  to  these  companies,  to 
whom  was  also  given  the  monopoly  of  future  government  transportation 
for  ten  years. 

The  transportation  of  onr  mails  through  the  Isthmus  is  confided  to  the 
Spaniards  of  New  Granada !  All  this  enormous  expenditure  has  pro- 
duced at  the  end  of  four  years,  an  uncertain  monthly  mail,  outside  of  our 
country  :  and  exposed  to  the  hostilities  of  the  whole  woi-ld  :  which  trav- 
erses 9000  miles  of  sterile  ocean  in  fifty  days !  In  the  interval  the  con- 
tracts have  been  doubled  in  amount  by  doubling  the  size  and  cost  of  the 
ships.  It  is  a  condition  of  these  contracts  that  these  "  mail  steamers" 
may  be  appraised  and  purchased  by  government  for  the  navy.  Thus  is 
the  navy  clandestinely  increased  by  eight  or  a  dozen  war  steamers. 

Thus,  whilst  we  may  transport  the  domestic  mails  between  our  distant 
people  and  seaboards  through  the  heart  of  our  territories,  every  inch  upon 
(lur  own  soil,  and  1000  miles  from  any  foreign  foe  or  frontier — whilst  this 
can  be  done  and  is  offered  to  be  done,  by  our  citizens,  for  prices  at  which 
the  mails  will  yield  remunerating  revenues — whilst  this  admits  of  an  in- 
crease to  daily  mails  at  any  time,  and  a  reduction  of  time  to  one-half — 
whilst  this  allows  of  innumerable  way  mails,  telegraphs,  and  the  most 
intimate  domestic  intercourse — involves  neither  increase  of  military  force 
nor  expenditures  by  sea  or  land,  and  avoids  the  possibility  of  foreign  inter- 
ference or  molestation — opening  roads  and  crowding  them  with  population 
and  settlements — concentrating  to  the  seaport  where  it  reaches  the  Pacific, 
the  American  shijtping  and  business  on  that  ocean,  at  once  creating  a  great 
American  emporium. 

Instead  of  all  this,  which  is  sensible  and  natural,  and  understood  by  our 


THE   PACIFIC  RAILWAY.  149 

people,  whose  cardinal  right  it  is  to  have  the  circulation  of  their  domestic 
thoughts  and  business  through  home  channels  which  are  short,  safe,  and 
expeditious !  Yes,  instead  of  this,  we  are  taxed  millions,  to  have  our 
letters  sent  9000  miles  in  fifty  days,  under  the  equator,  by  sea,  through 
foreign  nations :  exposed  to  delay,  dangers,  and  destruction  in  every  form, 
ruffling  the  jealousies  of  rival  nations,  and  exposed  to  their  cannon — and 
all  this  to  fill  the  maws  of  maritime  speculators  and  political  ambition. 

Such  are  a  few  examples  of  a  policy  hourly  influencing  our  glorious 
State  for  weal  or  woe,  whose  efiect  upon  you,  my  fellow-citizens,  tills  me 
with  the  most  puzzling  astonishment.  You  drop  your  own  interests  with 
facility  when  told  they  are  difficult  and  inexpedient,  and  stand  at  ease, 
whilst  rival  enterprises,  planned  to  destroy  you,  and  a  thousand  times 
more  difficult,  costly,  and  fanciful,  are  finished  completely  ! 

Mr.  Chairman,  eloquence  is  not  nurtured  in  the  depths  of  the  silent 
wilderness,  and  tlLerc.  have  I  passed  my  youth.  Did  I  possess  those  graces 
of  language  and  polished  elocution,  which  many  youths,  my  cotempo- 
raries,  trained  in  the  courts  and  halls  of  legislation,  ought  to  do,  then 
should  my  voice  sound,  like  the  rappel  beat  on  John  de  Zitzka's  skin, 
into  every  cabin  of  our  glorious  State ;  to  call  forth  her  citizens,  and, 
roused  from  their  ignoble  apathy,  animate  them  to  resume  their  stolen 
rights  and  vindicate  their  crippled  honor.  For  this  apathy  is,  towards 
this  our  State  and  our  nation,  the  crime  of  the  sentinel  slumbering  on  his 
post. 

The  configuration  of  the  Sierra  Madre  (the  Mother  Mountain  of  the 
world)  is  transcendently  massive  and  sublime.  Rising  from  a  base- 
ment whose  roots  spread  out  two  thousand  miles  and  more :  its  crest  splits 
almost  centrally  the  Northern  continent,  and  divides  its  waters  to  the  two 
oceans. 

Novel  terms  have  been  introduced  to  define  its  characteristics.  J/^.sr/, 
expresses  the  level  plateaux  of  its  summits.  Canon,  the  gorges  rent  in 
its  slopes  by  the  descending  rivers.  Bute,  the  conical  mountains  isolated 
and  trimmed  into  symmetrical  peaks  by  atmospheric  corrosion. 

Everybody  has  seen  the  card-houses  built  by  children  in  the  nursery. 
Suppose  three  of  these  in  a  row,  having  a  second  story  over  the  centre: 
this  toy  familiarly  delineates  a  transverse  section  of  the  Sierra  Madre. 
This  upper  story  represents  the  central,  primary  7)iesa  of  the  Cordillera — 
its  summit  a  great  plain,  descending  on  both  flanks  by  a  perpendicular 
wall  of  6000  feet  to  the  level  of  the  second  mesa,  or  steppe. 

Towards  the  west  the  second  mesa  fills  the  whole  space  to  the  Andes, 
whose  farther  side  descends  abruptly  to  the  tide-level  of  the  Pacific.  This 
is  again  what  has  been  before  described  at  lentrth  as  the  Grkat  Table 


150  APPENDIX. 

Lands.  But  towards  the  f«,s/,  the  second  r)iesa  forms  a  piedmont,  rent 
into  peaks  by  the  fissures  of  innumerable  streams. 

This  piedmont,  called  by  us  the  Black  Hills,  masks  the  front  of  the 
Sierra  ]Madre,  from  end  to  end.  So  completely  is  it  torn  and  rent  by  the 
perplexity  of  water-courses,  that  patches  alone  are  left  to  define  the  origi- 
nal plateau.  These  are  the  eastern  envelope  of  the  basin  of  the  Yellow- 
stone, the  Laramie  plain  (between  the  Plattes),  the  Ratone,  and  the  Llano 
Estacado  of  Texas. 

Beneath  this  the  third  mesa  (or  steppe),  is  that  superlative  region,  the 
Great  Prairie  Plains,  whose  gentle  slope  forms  a  glacis  to  the  Gulf 
through  Texas :  and  in  front  to  the  trough  formed  by  the  Mississippi 
River  from  Itasca  Lake  to  the  Balize.  Neither  are  the  other  three  basins 
of  the  St.  Lawrence,  Hudson  Bay,  and  Athabasca  anything  else  but  pro- 
longations of  this  same  glacis,  sloping  towards  the  east  and  north. 

It  is  this  vastness  of  geographical  configuration  which  leads  the  glance 
of  the  engineer  with  unerring  certainty  to  that  line  of  natural  grades  from 
ocean  to  ocean,  the  discovery  of  which  mankind  now  awaits  with  the  keen- 
est curiosity,  and  along  which  the  American  nation  is  resolved  to  construct 
the  consummate  work  of  art — the  Asiatic  and  European  Railway. 

Advancing  north  along  the  comb  of  the  SieiTa  Madre  from  below 
Mexico,  you  find  at  the  sources  of  the  Platte  (Sweetwater)  a  wide  gap, 
where,  the  high  mesa  suddenly  giving  out  for  the  space  of  forty  miles, 
the  second  mesa  passes  through  from  east  to  west,  the  continued  water- 
ridge  being  scarcely  perceptible  among  its  gentle  undulations. 

This  is  the  South  Pass.  It  is  so  named  as  being  the  most  southern 
pass  to  which  you  may  ascend  by  an  affluent  of  the  Atlantic  and  step 
immediately  over  on  to  a  stream  descending  directly  to  the  Pacific.  This 
name  is  as  ancient  as  the  pass  itself. 

Into  it  concentrate  the  great  trails  of  the  buffalo,  geographers  and  road 
makers  by  instinct,  before  the  coming  of  man.  The  Indian,  the  Mexican, 
and  the  American,  successors  of  one  another,  have  not  improved  or  de- 
flected from  the  instincts  of  the  buffalo,  nor  will  they  whilst  the  moun- 
tains last  in  their  present  unshattered  bulk. 

The  South  Pass  has  a  towering  grandeur,  in  keeping  with  the  rivers 
between  which  it  is  the  avenue  (the  Missouri,  the  Colorado,  and  the 
Columbia),  all  of  which,  issuing  from  the  wall  of  the  Wind  River  Moun- 
tain, come  out  of  it  on  to  the  second  me.sa,  at  the  same  level,  and  into 
which  tliey  immediately  connnence  burrowing  their  caiions  of  descent  to 
the  seas. 

Here,  then,  is  tlie  route,  the  ,Soiif/irr/i  route,  of  the  National  Railroad, 
ascending  by  the  water-grade  of  the  Platte  on  to  the  top  of  the  second 


THE  PACIFIC  It  AIL  WAY.  151 

mesa,  where  it  forms  the  summit,  following  the  level  of  tliis  mesa  along 
the  base  of  the  high  mesa,  to  the  Columbia  (Snake  River),  and  descend- 
ing its  water-grade  clear  out  to  the  Pacific. 

The  distance  from  the  Platte  to  the  Columbia  has  not  been  accu- 
rately ascertained,  though  by  the  present  wagon  road,  which  crosses  a 
corner  of  the  Salt  Basin,  it  is  less  than  300  miles.  Here  is  that  double 
inclined  plane,  to  find  which  has  been  the  first  essential  in  every  woi'k  of 
art  existing  in  the  world.     . 

There  is  none  south  of  this,  because  everywhere  the  basins  of  the  Table 
Lands  overlap  and  envelop  one  another,  so  that  the  passes  lead  merely 
from  one  of  these  into  another  :  nor  are  there  any  natural  tunnels  through 
the  precipitous  walls  of  the  Andes,  and  between  the  basins. 

The  Columbia,  running  across  the  Table  Lands  from  east  to  west,  dis- 
tributes the  descent  of  8500  feet,  equally  along  its  course  of  1200  miles, 
and  tunnels  the  great  ranges  of  Blue  Mountains  and  the  Andes.  This 
whole  course  of  the  river  is  a  continuity  of  rapids  having  three  falls — the 
American  Falls  of  30  feet  at  Portneuf,  the  Salmon  Falls  of  45  feet,  200 
miles  below,  and  the  Chuttes  of  12  feet,  near  the  Dalles. 

This  river-grade  is  then  as  rapid  as  the  descent  to  be  accomplished  will 
admit  of ;  for,  distributed  into  long  levels  and  steep  grades,  it  would  im- 
mensely impair  the  utility  of  the  whole  work,  and  fatally  impede  ti'ans- 
portation. 

The  great  Colorado  runs  diagonally  across  the  Table  Lands,  debouch- 
ing into  the  Grulf  of  California  ;  but  has  its  course  and  those  of  its  great 
affluents,  parallel  with  the  mountain  ranges,  which  are  scored  with  un- 
fathomed  caiions,  perplexing  the  traveller  with  an  infinity  of  impassable 
ridges,  among  which  the  water-courses  are  embowelled. 

"North  of  the  South  Pass,  however,  exist  many  single  passes  where  the 
higher  branches  of  the  Missouri  and  Columbia  interlock.  These  circui- 
tous routes  have  all  the  same  termini  as  that  of  the  South  Pass,  for  they 
also  descend  the  same  two  rivers  to  the  seas.  Thus  between  the  South 
Pass  and  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec  there  exists  no  railroad  route,  owing 
to  the  longitudinal  courses  of  the  rivers,  the  complexity  of  the  basins,  and 
the  double  barrier  of  primary  mountain  chains. 

To  the  north,  other  passes  exist,  which  future  generations  may  develop, 
and  on  which  navigation  may  be  used  for  four-fifths  of  the  whole  dis- 
tance. True  it  is  that  potential  fashion  now  exalts  the  little  maritime 
basin  of  California,  San  Francisco  Bay,  into  the  haven  of  hope  and  fortune 
of  the  new  seaboard,  whilst  the  sublime  basin  of  the  Columbia,  and  its 
magnificent  river  harbor,  are  banished  from  public  favor. 

The  basin  of  San  Francisco  is  small,  tropical  in  climate,  sterile,  and  the 


152  APPENDIX. 

most  isolated  spot,  to  reach  from  the  interior,  on  the  whole  coast  of  the 
Pacific.  No  great  river  gives  it  access  to  the  Mississippi  Valley,  from 
which  it  is  cut  off  by  the  basins  of  the  Salt  Lake,  the  Colorado,  and  the 
Del  Xorte,  overlapping  each  other. 

The  Columbia  is  larger  than  the  Danube,  and  equal  to  the  Ganges.  In 
size,  climate,  agricultural  excellence,  ca])acity  for  population,  and  its  won- 
derful circular  configuration,  the  basin  of  the  Columbia  surpasses  both  of 
these  others. 

The  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  a  salient  point  upon  the  open  coast,  more 
than  any  other  central  and  convenient  to  the  whole  North  Pacific  and 
Asia,  is  in  size,  depth  of  water,  safety  and  facility  of  ingress  or  egress, 
equal  to  San  Francisco.  As  the  mouth  of  the  greatest  river  descending 
from  our  continent  into  the  Pacific,  it  is  infinitely  before  it.  It  is  eight 
degrees  south  of  Liverpool,  having  the  climate  of  Bordeaux,  Marseilles, 
or  Savannah. 

Why  is  not  the  deep  sea  navigation  concentrated  at  Norfolk  or  Hamp- 
ton Roads,  the  finest  harbor  of  the  whole  Atlantic  ?  Why  rather  is  it 
found  at  New  York  and  New  Orleans,  accessible  only  through  every  dan- 
ger that  can  menace  shipping  ?  Why,  because  the  former  is  the  outlet 
of  the  basin  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  latter  of  the  Mississippi.  The  ship- 
ping of  commerce  goes  to  where  cargoes  can  be  found. 

Less  than  fifty  years  ago,  fashion  pronounced  the  little  ravines  of  James 
River  and  the  Connecticut  the  proud  spots  of  America,  and  held  the  great 
uninhabitable  wastes  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  unnavigated  streams  as 
worthy  only  to  balance  codfish!  This  same  splenetic  spirit  o^  fashion 
now  manufactures  a  similarly  ridiculous  misdirection  for  the  energy  of  the 
pioneers,  by  setting  up  what  the  geologist  would  call  a  "  pot-hole  of  the 
Andes,"  against  the  grand  Columbia. 

Commerce,  provident  like  every  other  department  of  industry,  makes 
herself  harbors  with  charts,  pilots,  buoys,  and  beacons.  The  shallowest 
channel  of  the  Columbia  has  thirty-five  feet  water — the  deepest  of  New 
York,  twenty-nine. 

Climate  distinctly  controls  the  migrations  of  the  human  race,  which  has 
steadily  adhered  to  an  isothermal  line  around  the  world.  The  extremely 
mild  climate  of  our  Western  seaboard  is  only  the  consequence  of  the  same 
great  laws  of  nature  which  operate  in  Western  Europe.  These  are  the 
regular  and  fixed  ordinances  of  the  code  of  nature,  to  which  the  migra- 
tions of  man,  in  common  with  the  animal,  yield  an  instinctive  obedience. 
Within  the  torrid  zone  and  up  to  30°  of  the  Northern  hemisphere,  blow 
the  trade  unnds  and  variables,  constantly  from  the  east  and  northeast  all 
around  the  world ;  but  the  upper  halves  of  elliptical  orbits  followed  by  the 


1 


THE    PACIFIC   RAILWAY.  I53 

winds  lie  in  the  temi^erutc  zone,  from  35°  to  00°,  within  which  the  winds 
flow  constantly  from  the  west  and  southwest  all  around  the  world. 

These  winds  reach  the  western  coasts  of  America  and  Europe  after  trav- 
ersing the  expanse  of  the  Pacific  and  Atlantic  Oceans.  "Warmed  to  the 
same  temperature  as  these  oceans,  they  impart  again  this  same  mild  atmos- 
phere to  the  maritime  fronts  of  the  continents  which  receive  them.  These 
same  winds,  passing  onward  over  great  extensions  of  continent  of  low  tem- 
perature, covered  with  snow,  or  frozen  during  winter,  often  warped  upward 
by  mountain  ranges,  becoming  exhausted  of  their  warmth,  have  upon  the 
eastern  portions  of  both  hemispheres  an  exactly  opposite  effect  upon  the 
climate. 

Hence  the  variant  temperature  of  New  York  and  Lisbon,  which  face 
one  another  on  the  opposite  coasts  of  the  Atlantic — of  Pekin  and  San 
Francisco,  similarly  opposite  upon  the  Pacific.  At  San  Francisco  and 
Lisbon  the  seasons  are  but  modulations  of  one  continuous  summer.  At 
New  York  and  Pekin,  winter  suspends  vegetation  during  seven  months, 
whilst  ice  and  snow  bridge  the  land  and  waters.  These  four  cities  are  all 
close  upon  the  same  parallel  of  latitude,  the  40th  degree. 

It  is  here  manifest  how  in  Asia  the  masses  of  population  lie  helow  the 
40th  degree,  in  Europe  above,  and  again  (so  far)  in  America,  curving 
downward  on  the  eastern  face  of  our  continent,  to  rise  again  to  the  north 
upon  the  warm  coast  of  the  Pacific. 

Thus  has  the  zodiac  of  nations,  our  own  nation  similarly  with  the  rest, 
pursued  a  serpentine  line  of  equal  temperature,  retaining  all  around  the 
world  similar  employments,  similar  industrial  pursuits,  similar  food  and 
clothing,  requiring  similarity  of  climate,  and  recoiling  alike  from  the  torrid 
and  the  arctic  zones. 

The  scientific  men  of  the  nation  oppose  the  National  Railroad — so 
did  those  of  Europe  persecute  Galileo  and  Columbus.  Science,  like 
the  army  and  navy,  is  fed  from  the  national  revenues,  which  maritime 
policy  distributes  to  all  that  serve  its  ends.  Science  is  rare ;  the  spurious 
quackery  of  science  redundant.  It  is  not  the  scientific  doctors  of  the 
schools,  the  bureaux  and  military  wings  of  government,  that  have  hewed 
out  this  republican  empire  from  the  wilderness. 

This  has  been  reared  by  the  genuine  heroism  and  sublime  instincts  of 
i\iQ  j>ioneer  arm//,  unpaid,  unblessed,  nay,  scoffed  and  loaded  with  burdens 
by  government  and  its  swarm  of  dependents.  To  bridle  progress  has 
been  the  policy  of  thirty  years.  To  keep  the  people  out  of  the  wilderness. 
To  refuse  Territorial  governments,  and  prevent  Territories  from  becoming 
States. 

At  this  moment  scientific  men  are  especially  busy  distracting  us  with 


154  APPENDIX. 

multitudinous  routes  and  invented  difficulties:  devised  to  perplex  and 
scatter  the  energies  of  the  citizens :  whose  unanimous  resolve  it  is  to 
plow  open  a  great  central  trail  to  the  Pacific. 

Science  cannot  unmake  the  eternal  ordinances  of  nature,  and  reset  the 
universe  to  suit  local  fancies  and  idle  fashion.  It  is  the  humble  duty  of 
science  to  investigate  nature  as  she  is,  and  promulgate  the  truths  discover- 
able for  the  guidance  of  governments  and  men. 

The  experience  gained  from  the  great  works  constructed  by  the  last 
generation,  in  digging  through  the  Alleghanies  routes  for  commerce  to 
the  Atlantic,  settles  for  us  the  rules  that  shall  guid6  us  across  the  Siorra 
Madre  to  the  Pacific. 

In  1818  the  State  of  New  York  cut  through  the  low  and  naiTow  ridge 
between  Rome  and  Syracuse,  the  former  on  an  affluent  of  the  Hudson, 
the  latter  of  Lake  Ontario.  Thus  the  first  expenditures,  perforating 
the  dividing  mountain,  let  through  that  infant  commerce,  which  in  thirty 
years  has  grown  to  such  a  grandeur  of  quantity  and  profit,  that  this  great 
thoroughfare  is  itself  quadrupled  in  capacity  and  lengthened  out  to  Mon- 
treal, to  Boston,  to  New  York  City,  and  into  Pennsylvania,  towards  the 
east. 

Westivard,  it  reaches  through  Ohio  and  Indiana  to  the  Ohio  River  :  and 
by  the  Illinois  and  Wisconsin  Rivers  to  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi. 

What  the  single  State  of  New  York,  of  1,200,000  population,  accom- 
plished by  her  own  intrinsic  bravery  and  resources,  undismayed  by  ridicule 
and  unappalled  by  the  then  experimental  character  of  such  works  in  a 
republic  and  upon  our  continent: — just  such  a  work  now  invites  the 
national  bravery,  power,  and  wealth  of  this  imperial  republic :  namely, 
to  lay,  over  the  dividing  barrier  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  along  the  floor  of 
its  natural  tunnel  at  the  South  Pass,  an  iron  pathway :  which,  descend- 
ing the  grades  of  the  Platte  and  Columbia  to  the  highest  points  of  navi- 
gation, shall  let  through  the  first  infant  stream  of  that  supreme  Oriental 
commerce,  whose  annually  expanding  flood  will,  during  our  generation, 
elongate  its  arms  and  fingers  through  all  the  States  and  to  every  harbor 
of  the  two  seaboards  ! 

Climate :  the  configuration  of  the  continent :  the  location  of  our  States 
and  people  :  the  isothermal  line  of  progress  :  the  high  latitudes  of  the  ultra- 
oceanic  nations  here  locate  the  "  National  Railroad."  The  climate  is  here 
most  favorable  :  because  the  whole  region  from  the  ^Missouri  to  the  Colum- 
bia, far  removed  from  any  ocean,  is  so  dry  as  to  be  free  from  rains  in 
summer  and  snows  in  winter. 

Thus  the  snows  within  the  South  Pass  itself  are  not  so  deep  as  upon 
the  St.  Lawrence,  or  between  Boston  and  Buffalo.    Upon  the  AVind  River 


THE   PACIFIC  RAILWAY.  155 

Mountaia  there  is  no  snow  in  summer,  at  an  altitude  where  it  is  perpetual 
on  the  Andes  beneath  the  equator  and  near  the  ocean ! 

On  the  Table  Lands  raiu  and  snow  are  so  rare  that  they  may  be  said 
never  to  occur.  This  obstruction,  then,  stated  on  theory  to  be  fatal,  has  no 
existence — whilst  this  route,  pursuing  great  rivers  all  the  way,  has  abun- 
dance of  water.  Mineral  coal  is  abundant  from  end  to  end.  Lumber  and 
rock  infinite  in  quantity  and  convenient  in  position. 

It  is,  then,  I  repeat,  through  the  heart  of  our  Territories,  our  popula- 
tion, our  States,  our  farms  and  habitations,  that  we  need  this  broad  current 
of  commerce.  Where  passengers  and  cargo  may,  at  any  time  or  place, 
embark  upon  or  leave  the  vehicles  of  transportation. 

It  is  foul  treason  to  banish  it  from  the  land :  from  among  the  people : 
to  force  it  on  to  the  barren  ocean :  outside  of  society :  through  foreign 
nations :  into  the  torrid  heats  and  along  solitary  circuitous  routes,  im- 
prisoned for  months  in  great  ships. 

This  central  railroad  is  an  essential  domestic  institution :  more  power- 
ful and  permanent  than  law,  or  popular  consent:  to  thoroughly  complete 
the  great  systems  of  fluvial  arteries  which  fraternize  us  into  one  people  : 
to  bind  the  two  seaboards  to  this  one  nation,  like  ears  to  the  human  head : 
to  radicate  the  foundations  of  the  Union  so  broad  and  deep,  and  render 
its  structure  so  solid,  that  no  possible  force  or  stratagem  can  shake  its 
permanence :  and  to  secure  such  scope  and  space  to  progress,  that  pros- 
perity and  equality  shall  never  be  impaired  or  chafe  for  want  of  room. 

What,  sirs,  are  these  populous  empires  of  Japan  and  China,  now  be- 
come our  neighbors  ?  They  are  the  most  ancient,  the  most  highly  civil- 
ized, the  most  polished  of  the  earth. 

It  was  from  Sinim  (China)  that  the  Judean  king  Solomon  imported 
the  architects,  the  mechanics,  the  furniture  of  his  gorgeous  temple. 
Hmce,  the  Tyrians  brought  tapestry,  carpets,  shawls  of  wool,  cotton  and 
silk  fabrics,  wares  of  porcelain  and  metals,  dyes,  gums,  and  spices,  jewels 
polished  and  set. 

Hence,  came  the  climax  of  all  human  inventions,  letters  and  figures, 
which  fix  language  and  numbers,  making  them  eternal :  astronomy,  arith- 
metic, algebra,  decimals,  chemistry,  printing,  navigation,  agriculture,  and 
horticulture. 

All  these,  erroneously  ascribed  as  the  inventions  of  the  Arabs  or  to  the 
exiles  of  Constantinople,  who  brought  them  into  Western  Europe,  are  the 
creations  of  Oriental  genius  and  study. 

Tea,  sugar :  the  peach  pi'oduced  from  the  wild  almond  :  the  orange 
from  the  sour  lime  :  the  apple  from  the  crab  :  the  fruits  :  the  flowers  :  the 
vegetables  of  our  gardens,  are  the  creations  of  Chinese  horticultural  science. 


156  APPEXDIX. 

The  horse,  cattle,  the  swine  and  poultry  of  our  farms,  come  to  us  from 
thence.  The  culture  of  the  cereal  grains,  Avheat,  rice,  barley-bread,  wine, 
the  olive  and  silk,  have  come  to  us  from  the  farthest  Orient.  Hence  also 
came  gunpowder,  the  magnetic  needle,  and  calomel.  The  paints,  varnish, 
and  tools  of  the  art  have  come,  and  the  remedies  used  in  pharmacy. 

Our  historic  records,  commencing  with  the  arrival  of  progressive  civil- 
ization at  the  extremity  of  the  Mediterranean,  relate  from  tradition  the 
antique  empire  of  Bacchus  and  the  religion  of  Zoroaster  upon  the  Ganges 
and  the  Indus.  The  Chaldeans  of  the  Persian  Sea  followed.  Fleets 
came  from  the  extreme  Orient  into  the  Bengal  Sea,  the  Persian  Gulf,  and 
the  Red  Sea ;  and  caravans  overland  by  the  Oxus  and  the  Caspian  brought 
the  camel,  the  horse,  cattle,  manufactured  wool,  silks,  cotton,  and  metals, 
agriculture,  commerce,  and  coin. 

Empires  expanding  westward  along  the  Ganges,  the  Euphrates,  and 
the  Nile,  reached  to  the  Mediterranean  and  Euxine.  From  Egypt,  Phoe- 
nicia, and  Colchis  (Trebisond),  sprang  European  Greece. 

Such  as  Progress  is  to-day,  the  same  has  it  been  for  ten  thousand  years. 
It  is  the  stream  of  the  human  race  flowing  from  the  east  to  the  tcest.  im- 
pelled by  the  same  divine  instinct  that  pervades  creation.  By  this  track 
comes  the  sun  diurnally  to  cheer  the  world.  Thus  come  the  tides  of  men 
and  of  the  waters  :  learning :  law  :  religion  :  the  plagTie :  the  smallpox  : 
and  the  cholera.  The  sources  of  life  and  happiness — the  pestilence  that 
saddens  both. 

These  empires  of  which  we  have  spoken  have  left  upon  the  ground  they 
occupied  their  names,  political  society,  their  organized  systems  of  gov- 
ernment and  religion.  Does  not  society,  then,  once  founded  become 
perennial  ?  It  is  within  a  belt  of  the  earth  straddling  the  40th  degree 
of  north  latitude  that  the  greatest  mass  of  land  surrounds  the  world,  and 
where  the  continents  most  nearly  approach. 

Within  this  belt  (from  30°  to  50°)  four-fifths  of  the  human  race  is 
assembled,  and  here  the  civilized  nations,  of  whom  we  possess  any  history, 
have  succeeded  one  another,  commencing  at  the  farthest  extremity  of 
Asia,  and  forming  a  zodiac  towards  the  setting  sun. 

This  succession  has  flowed  onward  in  an  even  course,  undulating  along 
an  isothermal  line,  until  in  our  time  the  ring  is  about  to  close  abound  the 
earth's  circumference,  by  the  arrival  of  the  American  nation  on  the  coast 
of  the  Pacific,  which  looks  over  on  to  Asia. 

In  this  age  and  in  this  march  of  human  race,  as  elsewhere :  the  bold, 
energetic,  and  indomitable:  the  picked  spirits  of  the  world  lead  tlie  van; 
and  such  is  the  j)ioneer  army. 

What  means  that  expression  in  tlie  Declaration  of  IiidcpcnduiR-c,  '-life. 


THE   PACIFIO   RAILWAY.  157 

liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  hajijnness'^  ?  What  brought  the  Cavaliers  to 
Virginia  in  1608  ?  It  was  "  the  pursuit  of  happiness."  What  animated 
the  Pilgrims  to  endure  the  rigors  of  Plymouth  Hock  ?  Why,  "  the  pur- 
suit of  happiness."  What  sought  Boone  and  his  companions  plunging  a 
thousand  miles  into  the  wilderness  ?  This  same  "  pursuit  of  happiness." 
What  secret  motive  now  brings  foreigners  to  our  shores,  and  impels  our 
own  citizens  onward  to  the  Pacific  ?  Again,  it  is  "  the  pursuit  of  happi- 
ness." 

Progress,  then,  is  one  of  the  immortal  rights  sanctified  in  the  Charter 
of  human  liberty.  Why,  then,  is  advent  into  the  wilderness — the  field 
for  the  discontented,  the  oppressed,  the  needy,  the  restless,  the  ambitious, 
and  the  virtuous,  thus  closed  by  a  policy  at  once  sinister,  nefarious,  and 
unconstitutional  ? 

Unquiet  for  our  sacred  Union  is  this  present  time,  when  political 
power,  about  to  cross  the  Alleghanies,  see-saws  on  their  crests,  counting 
the  days  that  precede  her  eternal  transit  over  them  ! 

It  is  by  the  rapid  propagation  of  new  States  :  the  immediate  occupation 
of  the  broad  platform  of  the  continent :  the  aggregation  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean  and  Asiatic  commerce  :  that  inquietude  will  be  swallowed  up,  and 
the  murmurs  of  discontent  lost  in  the  onward  sound  of  advancement. 
Discontent,  distanced,  will  die  out. 

The  immense  wants  of  the  Pacific  will  draw  off,  over  the  Western  out- 
lets, the  over-teeming  crops  of  the  IMississippi, Valley.  Thus  will  the 
present  seaboard  States  resume  again  their  once  profitable  monopoly 
of  the  European  market,  relieved  from  the  competition  of  the  interior 
States. 

The  cotton  and  rice  culture  of  Georgia  and  the  Carolinas  will  revive. 
The  tobacco  of  Virginia  and  Maryland  will  again  alone  reach  Europe. 
Ships  Avithdrawn  from  the  Northern  States  to  the  Pacific,  will  regenerate 
the  noble  business  of  nautical  construction  in  New  England  and  New 
York. 

The  established  domestic  manufactures  of  clothing  and  metals  will  find, 
in  our  great  home  extension,  that  protection  which  they  in  vain  seek  to 
create  by  unequal  legislation,  nocuous  and  impracticable  in  our  present 
incomplete  and  unbalanced  geographical  form. 

Thus  calmly  weighed  and  liberally  appreciated,  does  this  great  Central 
Railroad  minister  to  the  interests  and  invite  the  advocacy  and  co-opera- 
tion of  every  section  of  our  territory,  and  every  citizen  of  our  common 
country. 

The  exclusion  of  foreigners  from  Japan,  China,  and  Cochin  China  is 
not  then  an  institution  of  barbarism,  but  a  domestic  tariff  of  protection. 


158  APPENDIX. 

It  is  designed,  like  the  combination  of  Christian  nations  against 
piracy,  to  protect  their  nationality  and  freedom  against  those  fierce  military 
nations  of  Northmen,  who  for  twenty  centuries  have  rent  Europe  and 
Western  Asia  with  perpetual  massacre :  who  ransack  all  the  seas  in  their 
war-ships  :  store  the  rocks  of  the  ocean  with  munitions  of  war  :  crush  the 
millions  of  India  with  cannon  and  the  bayonet :  plunder  Africa  of  a  million 
annually  of  her  swarthy  children  to  rot  in  foreign  slavery  :  and  even 
exterminate  one  another  in  deadly  strife  when  they  meet  among  the  an- 
tipodes, in  the  solitudes  of  the  Southern  Ocean. 

When,  however,  our  diplomacy  shall  receive  a  wise  direction — when 
our  foolish  nepotism  to  Europe  shall  be  run  out — when  men  of  sense, 
such  as  Franklin  was  of  old,  shall  sail  over  from  Astoria  to  Pekin,  and 
there  converse,  with  the  Oriental  Court,  of  Republican  America  as  she  is 
■ — when  her  civic  growth  and  pacific  policy  shall  be  there  understood — 
when  the  central  position  of  our  continent  shall  be  known :  forming  the 
avenue  for  trade  and  barrier  against  war  with  the  Northmen  of  Europe — 
then  will  mutual  confidence  between  these,  the  oldest  and  youngest  of 
the  human  family,  tlte  extremes  met,  show  itself  in  the  graces  of  a  free 
commerce,  and  the  ties  of  an  harmonious  fraternity. 

It  is  for  you  especially,  people  of  Missouri,  to  seek  these  new  relations 
with  the  Oriental  people,  with  the  zeal  of  faith  and  the  fixed  will  of  con- 
viction. 

It  is  arch  mockery  for  us  to  be  duped  by  the  flippant  caricatures  of 
these  ancient  and  polished  Asiatics  :  invented  by  British  envy  to  mislead 
us,  and  fed  out  to  us  by  the  British  press  to  cloak  sinister  designs  of  sub- 
jugation and  world-wide  plunder. 

Rather  let  us  take  alarm  at  the  tone  and  source  of  this  monstrous  flood  of 
calumny  :  and  know  that  a  direct  inspection  for  ourselves  will  reveal  to  us, 
in  Asia,  empires  of  people  illustrious  for  their  antique  civilization  :  ren- 
dered enduring  and  perfect  by  political  equality,  and  wise  civic  institutions, 
winnowed  and  renovated  during  fifty  centuries  of  uninterrupted  experi- 
ence— among  whom  the  science  and  art  of  war,  indeed,  a-re  decayed  from 
long  disuse :  but  all  useful  sciences  highly  perfected — with  whom  govern- 
ment has  reached  the  mildest  form  of  patriarchal  despotism,  eliminating 
political  priestcraft  and  the  disseminated  tyranny  of  a  patrician  order — 
who  have  so  admirably  refined  and  perfected  municipal  government  and 
police  that  40U,UUU,00U  of  population  (double  that  of  all  Europe)  are 
united  under  one  harmonious  political  system  in  concord  and  tranquillity. 

It  is  among  these  swarming  hives  of  ingenious  people  that  we  will  find 
markets  on  a  scale  commensurate  with  our  own  prolific  industry. 

This  is  not  now  the  case  in  Europe.     The  Euro])eans  are  in  all  things 


THE  PACIFIC  RAILWAY.  159 

our  rivals  and  competitors.  Are  we  agriculturists?  So  are  they,  and 
wall  off  our  competition  with  corn-law  tariffs.  Are  we  miners  and  manu- 
facturers ?  So  are  they,  and  overtop  us  by  abundance  of  labor  and  capi- 
tal. Are  we  ship-owners?  So  are  they,  having  an  immense  marine 
cheaply  navigated.  They  conquer  and  colonize  foreign  countries,  of  whose 
trade  they  make  monopolies  !  They  are  northern  nations,  whose  clothing 
is  of  wool  and  flax,  consuming  a  very  limited  amount  of  cotton. 

What  they  take  from  us  is  to  manufacture  for  exportation.  Tobacco 
is  prohibited — hemp  and  metals  they  export.  The  population  of  Europe 
is  205,000,000— of  the  Atlantic  all  round,  253,000,000. 

On  the  Pacific,  in  front  of  us,  are  400,000,000  people  of  the  tropics — 
Polynesians,  South  Americans,  Southern  Asiatics — among  whom  wheat 
is  not  cultivated,  and  animal  food,  other  than  fish  and  poultry,  very 
scarce.  Their  clothing  is  exclusively  cloth  of  cotton,  grass,  and  silk. 
Opium  is  excessively  used  among  them.  Rice,  the  plantain,  banana,  and 
fruits  are  their  unsubstantial  diet. 

Here,  then,  will  be  the  market  for  raw  and  manufactured  cotton.  Here 
our  rank  manufactured  tobacco  will  substitute  itself  for  opium.  Here 
our  substantial  articles  of  food — flour,  meats,  and  fish — will  find  purchasers 
in  all  who  eat.     Lead  and  hemp  will  be  sold. 

In  return  will  come  to  us  groceries,  spices,  teas,  coffee,  sugar — porce- 
lain, Japan  ware,  furniture,  works  in  ivory — drugs,  paints,  dyes,  medi- 
cines—  beautiful  fabrics  of  silk,  satin,  velvet,  crapes;  nankeens,  the 
delicate  shawls  of  Cashmere,  the  carpets  of  Persia — jewelry,  trinkets,  and 
toys — the  hemp  of  Manilla — luscious  fruits  dried  and  preserved. 

The  people  of  the  Pacific  have  no  marine  adapted  to  cross  the  great 
ocean — the  carrying  to  and  fro  will  be  in  our  ships,  and  a  monopoly  to  us 
— ship-building  and  navigation  will  occupy  our  people  of  the  new  sea- 
board, and  the  metals,  lumber,  and  hemp  of  the  interior  find  a  prodigious 
demand.     The  population  of  the  Pacific  all  round  exceeds  645,000,000  ! 

Will  not  then  our  people  find  in  this,  that  certain  panacea  of  all  their 
wants  and  wishes,  namely,  an  infinite  market  of  consumption  ?  Surely 
this  people,  which  has  submitted  to  the  nostrums  of  political  quackery : 
tariffs  of  protection :  banks  to  make  money  plenty  :  home  manufactures 
and  systems  of  internal  improvement:  all  invented  to  create  markets  at 
home,  by  changing  our  producing  agriculturists  into  consuming  opera- 
tives :  but  all  of  which  little  experiments  have  produced  industrial 
anarchy  and  commercial  bankruptcy. 

Surely  this  people  will  not  hesitate  to  construct  for  themselves  this  great 
"  National  Highway,"  at  small  comparative  cost:  and  leading  as  level  as 
a  cannon  to  its  blank :  to  a  new  ocean,  teeming  with  645,000,000  of 


IGO  APPEXDIX. 

people,  of  wants  unlimitod,  and  having  a  genius  active,  intelligent,  and  com- 
mercial !  To  effect  this,  it  is  only  necessary  to  untrammel  progress  from 
the  snares  and  dead-falls  of  maritime  policy. 

To  reopen  the  legitimate  onward  trail  of  the  pioneer  arm?/,  and  rein- 
vigorate  its  march.  The  cause  of  the  pioneers  at  this  hour  pre-eminently 
demands  the  undivided  energies  of  Missouri.  It  is  for  us  that  the 
pioneer  army  is  now  conquering  the  vast  wilderness  that  hems  in  our 
commerce  and  blocks  the  frontier  :  for  us  it  throws  down  the  perfidious 
Indian  wall :  reopens  the  central  trail  of  advancement  so  long  insidiously 
closed — and  to  us,  for  us,  it  re-establishes  that  crowning  excellence  of 
position  of  which  hostile  policy  has  for  thirty  years  bereft  us. 

It  is  not  ambition  that  impels  ws,  citizens  of  Missouri,  to  advance  to 
the  advocacy  of  this  great  work  with  our  whole  unshackled  energies — it 
is  high  religious  duty. 

Central  to  the  continent,  to  its  internal  navigation,  to  its  States,  to  its 
commerce,  and  to  its  variety  of  agriculture  :  neutral  to  all  sectional  antipa- 
thies, and  the  converging  heart  of  all  interests:  WE  must  occupy  this 
central  position  with  power  and  dignity  equal  to  its  importance ;  with  a 
strength  of  grasp  and  intensity  of  enterprise  to  cope  with  the  tallest  exi- 
gencies. 

Let  us  appreciate  this,  and  stand  up  to  the  work  with  hearts  of  contro- 
versy and  sinews  of  endurance :  that  the  fame  of  our  glorious  State, 
sallying  forth  from  her  seat  in  the  centre,  may  resound  in  and  outward 
all  round  from  the  centre  to  the  circumfluent  oceans  ! 

Observe  the  foreign  commerce  of  America,  and  the  splendid  marine 
which  it  sustains  !  This  has  grown  up  in  two  hundred  years.  But  com- 
pare with  it  the  commerce  and  navigation  of  the  interior^  grown  up  in 
less  than  forty  years,  for  such  is  the  age  of  steam  navigation  on  the  rivers 
and  lakes. 

The  latter  already  equals  the  former,  for  it  transports  internally  what 
is  consumed  at  home,  as  well  as  what  is  collected  at  the  seaports  for  expor- 
tation. Thus,  St.  Louis,  in  the  aniount  of  tonnage  arriving  and  departing 
annually,  is  the  fourth  city  of  the  Union,  ranking  next  to  Boston. 

Indefinitely  grand  is  this  domestic,  internal  commerce.  Let  us  com- 
pare the  two.  The  commerce  between  New  York  and  Liverpool,  3500 
miles  asunder,  requires  powerful  vessels  of  great  size  and  strength  to  carry 
much,  and  resist  the  storms  of  the  ocean.  The  intervening  space  is  a 
desert  waste  of  salt  water.  A  vessel  of  600  tons  must  be  filled  with  cargo 
before  her  departure,  to  make  so  long  a  voyage  profitable.  She  goes  to 
Liverpool  and  back — sails  3500  miles,  touches  only  two  points  of  land, 
and  carries  two  loads — four  months  of  time,  at  least,  is  consumed  in 


i 


THE   PACIFIC  RAILWAY.  161 

this.     Such  are  the  voyages  of  ocean  commerce — expensive,  dilatory  and 
full  of  dangers. 

Comjjare  with  this  the  river  voyage.  From  Pittsburg  (or  New  Or- 
leans) to  Fort  Union,  the  distance  is  3500  miles,  by  the  Ohio  and  Mis- 
souri Rivers — a  steamer  of  600  tons,  cheaply  constructed  and  navigated, 
performs  the  voyage  to  and  fro,  with  perfect  safety,  in  two  and  a  half 
months,  and  absolutely  without  danger,  along  a  continuous  river  channel. 

This  channel  has  a  double  bank,  so  that  this  vessel  coasts  along  a  shore 
of  14,000  miles,  at  any  square  rod  of  which  she  may  take  in  and  discharge 
passengers  and  cargo.  Thus  it  is  possible  that  no  single  passenger  or 
cargo  remains  on  board  over  100  miles,  and  yet  the  vessel  is  full  through- 
out the  voyage.  These  same  advantages  belong  to  railroads  traversing 
populous  countries.  Such  is  our  internal  navigation — cheap,  expeditious, 
and  absolutely  without  danger. 

Now  the  circuitous  seaboard  surrounding  the  Atlantic  may  be  estimated 
at  69,000  miles,  with  harbors  indenting  it — but  small  vessels  cannot  navi- 
gate  the  broad  sea,  nor  large  vessels  enter  all  the  harbors. 

On  the  other  hand,  within  the  united  basins  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and 
Mississippi,  is  a  continuous  river  navigation  for  45,000  miles,  having  a 
double  bank  or  90,000  miles  of  coast,  the  whole  extent  of  which  may  be 
visited  by  the  same  steamer,  which  can  land  anywhere  ! 

Such  is  one  illustration  of  the  supremely  beneficent  formation  of  this 
great  interior  basin,  of  which  our  own  State  occupies  the  centre  and  focus. 
Let  a  railroad  from  the  Missouri  elongate  this  to  the  Pacific :  carrying 
population  clear  up  all  the  rivers  to  their  sources  and  down  those  beyond 
the  Sieri'as :  and  behold  the  greatness  of  an  internal  commerce  ! 

Everybody  is  acquainted  with  the  commercial  intercourse  between  the 
continents  which  fringe  the  Atlantic.  The  life,  the  vivacity,  the  grand 
energies  which  resound  upon  its  buoyant  waves.  All  this  is  the  result  of 
the  discovery  of  America  and  its  population  with  European  stock — hence 
all  this  has  its  growth  ! 

Antiquity  had  for  its  field  the  Mediterranean,  and  galleys  sufficed.  This 
was  commerce  in  its  infancy,  confined  to  the  nursery  and  content  with- 
toys.  Since  Columbus,  America  has  become  greater  than  the  Europe  of 
Columbus — and  as  this  period  has  expanded  the  field  of  human  activity 
from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  Atlantic  and  Mediterranean,  from  Western 
Europe  to  America  and  Europe,  blending  all  this  vast  space  under  one 
international  relationship. 

So  now  we  advance  to  consummate  the  blending  of  the  Pacific  with 
these  other  seas : — Asia  with  these  other  continents — and  urge  to  its  goal 
that  expanding  progression,  which  marches  on  to  complete  the  zodiac  of 

11 


162  APPENDIX. 

the  globe,  and  blend  into  bonds  of  cdnfratcniity  all  the  continents,  all  the 
seas,  and  all  the  nations  ! 

In  the  A'ast  region  of  Northwestern  Texas,  traversed  by  the  rivers 
Brazos,  Trinity,  llio  Roxo,  Canadian,  Arkansas,  and  Del  Norte,  exists  a 
fertile  region  much  larger  than  France,  the  dryness  of  whose  climate, 
whose  red  soils,  ini2)regnated  with  the  sulphate  of  lime  (plaster),  and 
whose  altitude,  present  in  perfect  combination  the  qualities  for  the  culti- 
vation of  the  grape  and  the  production  of  wines. 

These  rivers  all  have  their  sources  in  prodigious  mountains  of  plaster, 
from  which  the  red  tinge  and  the  fertility  of  their  valleys  below  is  derived. 
Natural  vineyards,  covering  millions  of  acres,  and  annually  pruned  down 
by  the  nibbling  herds  of  buifalo  and  antelope,  here  now  yearly  waste  an 
infinite  vintage. 

This  has  already  become  known  to  the  German  pioneers  of  Texas,  and 
soon  will  be  seen  rising  a  vine  culture,  rivalling  in  national  importance  the 
cotton  culture,  the  tobacco  crop,  and  even  the  production  of  provisions. 
Then  too  will  be  seen  the  universal  consumption  of  mild  and  healthy  wines 
by  our  people,  and  the  gay  and  exhilarating  spirits  which  generous  wines 
inspire,  will  transpose  the  fell  passions  and  fiery  madness  of  alcohol. 

Again,  the  region  of  gold  and  precious  metals  and  stones  is  not  limited, 
but  is  absolutely  infinite.  It  is  over  the  whole  extent  of  that  primary  and 
volcanic  formation  extending  from  the  antarctic  to  the  arctic  extremities 
of  America,  including  in  its  expanse  the  Andes  of  South  and  North 
America,  the  Sierra  Madre  and  the  Table  Lands. 

This  abundance  of  the  material  of  coin,  wrought  and  developed  by 
sober  American  industry,  is  to  the  human  race  the  suprcmest  gift  of 
Divine  Beneficence. 

Has  not  the  American  cotton  culture  obliterated  l)arsh  aristocratic  dis- 
tinctions in  dress,  and  thus  democratized  the  costume  of  society  over  the 
world  ?  What  cotton  has  done  for  equality  in  dress,  the  same  will  gold 
effect  for  individual  equality  in  property  and  physical  comforts. 

Study  how  the  stiff,  icy  servitude  of  European  feudal  times  has  melted, 
since  the  conquests  of  Cortez  and  Pizarro  opened  the  sources  from  which 
portable  personal  property  has  exalted  itself  above  fixed  and  immutable 
glebe  land ! 

Beyond  the  Sierra  Madre,  upon  the  Great  Table  Lands,  is  a  parallel  vein 
of  thin  mountains,  whose  masses  consist  of  rock-salt.  As  streams  else- 
where bring  down  gravel  and  soil,  so  here  they  liquefy  the  rocks  down 
which  they  descend,  and  reaching  tlie  small  inland  seas  and  lakes,  yield  it 
again  in  the  crystalline  coverings  which  j^ave  their  bowls. 

In  another  parallel  vein  is  a  contiimous  line  of  plaster  mountains. 


THE  PACIFIC   RAILWAY.  1(53 

In  another,  a  continuous  line  of  thermal  and  mediciiKtl  springs,  some 
of  which  are  the  first  appearance  above  ground  of  subterranean  rivers, 
having  flowed  hundreds  of  miles  under  plains  of  lava. 

Secondary  basim  of  great  size  abound,  having  freestone,  marble,  and 
coal  formations — iron,  lead,  and  the  metals  of  the  arts.  All  forms,  indeed, 
into  which  geology  classifies  matter,  here  follow  one  another  in  appro- 
priate positions  and  proportions,  with  the  regularity  of  the  stripes  of  the 
rainbow :  the  whole  deriving  prominence  and  distinctness  of  detail  from 
the. immensity  of  the  general  scale. 

Thus,  instead  of  inferiority  in  abundance  and  variety  of  things  used  by 
and  useful  to  man,  it  is  here  that  they  especially  abound  in  variety,  good 
quality,  and  vastness.  Across  all  these  must  pass  any  highway  connecting 
the  two  oceans,  distributing  outward  the  infinite  natural  resources  of  this 
intra-montane  world. 

No  other  portion  of  the  world  will  better  accommodate  a  dense  popu- 
lation than  these  Table  Lands,  on  which,  farther  south,  is  the  chief  popula- 
tion of  Mexico.  In  the  dryness  and  salubrity  of  its  climate,  its  extraor- 
dinary pastoral  excellence,  and  its  mineral  wealth,  ai-e  the  equivalents  of 
the  richer  lands,  but  uncertain  seasons  and  health  of  countries  of  less 
altitude.  Its  intermediate  position  will  secure  perpetual  communication 
with  the  seaboards. 

An  admirable  economy  of  arrangement  given  by  nature  to  the  indmtri/ 
of  our  people,  points  with  great  power  to  this  central  route,  which  also  cor- 
responds to  the  positions  and  courses  of  the  great  navigable  rivers. 

In  New  England  and  at  the  extreme  north,  where  winter  dwarfs  agri- 
culture, there  are  no  planters,  but  ships  are  built,  owned,  and  navigated. 
Here  are  the  marine  of  America,  her  sailors. 

On  the  shores  of  the  Gulf,  and  where  southern  warmth  invites  men  to 
agriculture,  no  .ships  are  built,  owned,  or  navigated — the  people  here  plant 
and  produce  cargoes  for  the  ships  of  the  north — not  a  native  sailor  is 
found  in  these  countries. 

Between  these,  occupying  a  broad  central  belt,  are  the  farmers,  pro- 
ducers of  food.  These  latter  equal  in  number  the  other  two  combined. 
The  farmer  recoils  from  a  southern  sun,  where  heat  forbids  labor,  and 
where  the  culture  of  wheat  and  swine  languishes;  in  like  mannei",  he 
recoils  from  the  long  winter  of  the  north,  where  cattle  and  Indian  corn 
cease  to  yield  abundantly. 

It  is  this  central  farming  population  which  feed  the  conuncrcial  people 
of  the  North  and  the  planting  people  of  the  South,  and  support  them- 
selves and  furnish  for  export.  They  precede  all  other  occupants,  and 
head   the  movement  into  the  wilderness,  where  the   first  requisites  are 


164  APPKXDIX. 

food  and  transportation.  Yet  it  is  among  the  farming  population  that 
domestic  commerce  finds  its  great  volume  of  employments — and  among 
them  are  required,  first  and  chiefly,  the  great  channels  of  trade  which 
find  their  termini  among  the  other  two. 

It  is  this  mass,  which,  stopped  by  the  artificial  net-work  of  maritime 
•policy^  is  now  rushing  through  and  tearing  its  meshes  from  their  fasten- 
ings. In  resuming  their  ancient  vigor,  concentrated  by  long  restraint, 
they  now  demand  a  National  Railway  to  the  ocean  which  they  seek. 

What  I  have  here  stated,  Mr.  Chairman  and  fellow-citizens,  of  geo- 
(jidphicdl  facts,  are  of  my  own  knowledge :  for  with  the  works  of  Lewis 
and  Clarke,  Fremont,  Emory,  and  Humboldt,  I  have  during  six  toilsome 
years  of  war  and  exploration,  traversed  the  countries  they  describe,  and 
the  vast  intervals  between,  which  f/icy  have  never  visited. 

In  these  wanderings,  undertaken  of  my  own  will,  I  have  descended  the 
Andes  to  the  Pacific  and  returned :  crossed  and  recrossed  by  many  routes 
all  the  basins  of  the  Table  Lands,  excepting  only  that  of  the  city  of 
Mexico,  and  coasted  along  the  base  of  the  Sierra  Madre  from  45°  to  25°. 
This  "  mother  range"  I  have  crossed  and  recrossed  at  six  difierent  passes 
in  this  long  interval,  and  its  supreme  grandeur  is  stamped  indelibly  in  my 
memory. 

What  I  have  said  ol ixAiaj  is  from  the  mouths  of  those  eminent  states- 
men who  have  contrived  it,  and  those  equally  eminent  who  have  unsuc- 
cessfully opposed  it. 

I  have  expressed  my  convictions  very  j^ositively,  but  not  immodestly : 
for  in  the  terrible  vastness  of  these  solitudes,  Nature  speaks  her  iron  will 
from  summits  of  eternal  ice,  and  where  she  frowns  upon  our  advances, 
our  foolish  efforts  shrivel  into  ashes.  It  is,  then,  this  stern  and  certain 
language  of  Nature  that  I  have  sought  to  penetrate,  and  here  struggle  to 
repeat. 

3Liny  routes  for  a  National  Highway,  cunningly  contrived  and  speciously 
reasoned  out,  are  before  the  people — all  these  will  vanish  beneath  exact 
geographical  scrutiny,  for  they  violate  nature  at  hap-hazard,  with  whom 
human  skill  must  act  in  unison.  This  unison  is  happily  attainable,  and 
discussion  will  reveal  it. 

Let  us,. then,  understand  Nature  rightly — let  us  cease  from  conflict,  and 
feather  our  onward  march  in  uiiLson  with  her  beneficent  aid  and  guidance. 
This  great  work  muni  come,  and  come  now,  to  this  generation.  No  diffi- 
culty lies  in  the  enterprise  itself — but  such  as  will  instantly  vanish  before 
the  concentrated  will  and  enei'gies  of  the  people. 


XII. 
PROCEEDINGS    OF    A    MASS    MEETING 

OF  THE  CITIZENS  OF  JACKSON  COUNTY,  AT  INDEPENDENCE,  ON  THE  5TH  OF  NOVEM 
BER,  1849,  TO  RESPOND  TO  THE  ACTION  OF  THE  GREAT  NATIONAL  RAILROAD  CON 
VENTION,  HELD  IN  ST.  LOUIS,  ON  THE  loTH  DAY  OF  OCTOBER,  1849. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  J.  W.  Modie,  Colonel  James  Chiles  was  appointed 
Chairman,  and  on  motion  of  R.  G.  Smart,  Esq.,  J.  11.  Palmer  was  ap- 
pointed Secretary. 

Colonel  William  Gilpin  was  then  called  upon  to  address  the  meet- 
ing, and  explain  its  object.  He  responded  to  the  call  in  a  speech  which 
interested  and  occupied  the  attention  of  the  meeting  for  about  one  hour 
and  a  half;  in  conclusion  he  moved  the  appointment  of  a  committee  of 
twelve  to  write  and  report  to  the  meeting  resolutions  responsive  to  the 
action  of  the  great  Convention  at  St.  Louis.  The  motion  having  been 
adopted,  the  Chairman  appointed  as  the  Committee  :  Colonel  William  Gil- 
pin, A.  Brooking,  General  S.  I).  Lucas,  Samuel  Ralston,  Major  Robert 
Rickman,  ColonelJames  M.  Cogswell,  James  Patton,  Esq.,  Colonel  Oliver 
Caldwell,  R.  G.  Smart,  Esq.,  William  R.  Singleton,  Alexander  Collins, 
and  S.  H.  Woodson,  Esq. 

The  Committee,  after  consultation,  reported  the  following  resolutions, 
which  were  unanimously  adopted  : — 

1.  Resolved,  That  we  heartily  and  zealously  approve  of,  and  concur  in, 
the  proceeding  of  the  "  National  Railroad  Convention."  held  at  St  Louis 
on  the  IStli  ultimo. 

2.  Resolved,  That  in  the  great  national  work,  that  shall  connect  the 
two  seaboards  of  our  country,  and  the  interior  with  the  seaboards,  we 
behold  an  enterprise  as  universal  to  the  inhabitants  of  our  Union  as  their 
language,  their  politics,  and  their  commerce — a  bond  of  unanimous  action, 
and  not  a  bone  of  contention  and  strife. 

3.  Resolved,  That  to  the  people  of  the  '•  Valley  of  the  Mississippi," 
intimate  and  direct  connection  with  the  seaboards  and  people  of  the  Pacific, 
is  as  essential  and  as  interesting  as  with  those  of  the  Atlantic. 

4.  Resolved,  That,  inasmuch  as  our  people  in  their  natural  progressive 
growth  have  extended  their  habitations  across  the  continent,  and  along  the 

IGo 


166  APPENDIX^ 

Western  seaboard,  it  i.s  our  dut}-,  and  the  duty  (if  our  tioverimieiit.  to  give 
to  this  new  seaboard,  fleets,  fortifications,  and  arms  for  defence — harbors, 
light-houses,  and  marine  police,  for  the  encouragement  and  jjrotection  of 
commerce  and  highways — and  a  military  police  to  confirm  and  make  safe 
the  connection  with  the  interior. 

5.  Resolved,  further,  That  a  NATIONAL  Railroad  from  the  Mississippi 
to  the  Pacific  is  the  most  direct,  economical,  and  constitutional  means  of 
effecting  the  above  objects. 

G.  Resolved,  That,  whereas  the  Almighty  has  placed  the  territories  of 
the  American  Union  in  the  centre,  between  Asia  and  Europe,  and  the 
route  of  the  "  Asiatic  and  European  Railway"  through  the  heart  of  our 
national  domain,  it  is  our  duty  to  the  human  family  to  prosecute,  vigor- 
ously, through  its  new  channel,  that  supreme  commerce  between  the  Ori- 
ental nations  and  the  nations  of  the  Atlantic,  which  history  proves  to 
have  existed  in  all  ages,  and  to  be  necessary  to  keep  alive  comity,  science, 
and  civilization  among  mankind. 

7.  Resolved,  That,  whereas  the  people  of  China,  Japan,  Polynesia,  and 
Southern  America  now  receive  from  British  India  agricultural  j)rodvce 
(raw  and  manufactured  cotton,  indigo,  opium,  rice,  wool,  etc.)  to  the 
amount  of  $150,000,000,  annually;  we  believe  these  same  people  will 
take  from  the  Americans,  in  preference,  more  than  twice  this  amount  of 
agricultural  produce  (substituting  tobacco  for  opium,  and  flour  and  meats 
for  rice),  so  soon  as  the  barrier  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  be  removed  by  a 
National  Railway. 

8.  Resolved,  That,  apart  from  the  great  benefits  which  shall  accrue  to 
us  and  the  other  nations  of  the  Atlantic  from  this  National  Railway,  we 
regard  it  as  a  beneficent  domestic  \;o\\,  to  open  to  our  j^cople  access  to  the 
immense  and  glorious  domain  of  the  Plains,  the  Sierra  Madre,  the  great 
Table  Lands,  and  the  Andes,  known  to  abound  in  metals,  mountains  and 
lakes  of  salt,  mountains  of  plaster  and  marble,  thermal  and  medicinal 
springs,  wild  cattle,  salubrious  climates,  sulphur,  coal,  lumber,  arable  and 
jiastoral  lands  of  the  finest  quality,  and  staple  productions  unlimited  in 
variety  and  abundance. 

1).  Resolved,  That,  whereas,  during  the  last  thirty  years,  the  generation 
of  our  fathers  has  covered  the  eastern  half  of  our  continent  with  States, 
and,  commencing  with  the  New  York  Canal  in  1818,  has  everywhere  ren- 
dered the  connection  between  the  "  Valky'  of  the  Mississipj)i"  and  the 
Atlantic  seabiiiird  cdnijiU'tc.  and  carried  the  conniicrce  of  the  Atlantic  to 
the  grandest  development^ — it  is  the  high  and  glorious  mission  and  duty 
of  us  their  sons  and  heirs,  of  the  growing  generation,  in  like  manner,  to 
cover  the  western  hull'  tA'  tlie  cuiitiiieiit  with  States,  to  render  complete 


GREAT  NATIONAL    RAILROAD    CONVENTION.  1(J7 

with  great  works  the  connection  of  the  "  Valley  of  the  Mississippi"  with 
the  Pacific  seaboard,  and  expand  upon  the  Pacific  Ocean  a  similarly  ma"- 
nificent  commerce. 

10.  Resolved,  That  we  earnestly  entreat  our  fellow-citizens,  in  all  sec- 
tions of  our  Union,  to  unite  with  us  in  this  central  domestic  work  in  pref- 
erence to  dissipating  the  national  energies  upon  circuitous  routes,  running- 
near  the  equator,  through  foreign  countries  beyond  our  control,  and  certain 
to  involve  us  in  the  competitions,  the  jealousies,  and  the  hostile  interests 
of  foreigners  and  rivals. 

11.  Resolved,  That  we  invite  our  fellow-citizens  throughout  the  State 
to  assemble  in  their  counties  and  cities,  and  join  in  a  general  and  unani- 
mous response  to  the  St.  Louis  Convention,  and  unite  with  us  in  respect- 
fully instructing  our  Representatives  and  Senators  in  Congress  to  vote  for 
such  measures  as  may  be  introduced  at  the  coming  session  of  our  National 
Legislature  to  carry  out  the  views  embodied  in  the  foregoing  resolutions. 

12.  Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  of  this  Mass  Meeting  forward  to  each 
of  our  Representatives  and  Senators  in  Congress  a  copy  of  these  resolutions. 

Mr.  George  W.  Rhoades  offered  the  following  resolutions : — 

1.  Resolved,  That  Colonel  Gilpin  be  requested  to  write  out  for  publica- 
tion the  speech  made  by  him  to  this  meeting  on  to-day. 

2.  Resolved,  That  the  "  Missouri  Commonwealth,"  and  all  other  papers 
in  this  State  friendly  to  a  project  of  constructing  a  National  Railroad  to 
the  Pacific  from  the  "  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,"  be  requested  to  publish 
the  proceedings  of  this  meeting. 


IV. 
PIKE'S  PEAK  AND  THE  SIERRA  SAN  JUAN. 

EXTRACTS  I"KOM  AN  ADDBESS  BY  COLONEL  •WILLIAM  GILPIX,  DELIVERED  AT 
KANSAS  CITY,  NOVEMBER  15,  1858;  ON  THE  GOLD  PRODUCTION  OF  AMERICA 
AND  THE  SIERRA  SAN  JUAN. 

I  SUBMIT  to  your  inspection  three  maps.  The  first  is  a  "  Hydro- 
graphic  Map  of  North  America,"  exhibiting  in  daguerreotype  the  physical 
divisions  of  our  continent ;  the  second  is  a  map  of  the  world,  exhibiting 
America  in  the  centre,  between  Asia  and  Europe,  and  having  delineated 
upon  it  the  Isothermal  Zodiac  of  Nations,  filling  the  north  temperate  zone 
of  the  globe  ;  the  third  is  a  map  of  the  "  Basin  of  the  Mississippi." 

Physical  geography  arranges  the  surface  of  the  continents  into  basins 
and  the  mountain  crests  which  divide  them.  Thus  the  basin  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi is  that  surface  which,  being  drained  by  all  the  confluent  branches 
of  this  river,  discharges  its  fresh  waters  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

This  surface  is  an  undulating,  calcareous  jjlain  of  1,200,000  square 
miles  of  area :  it  is  embraced  entirely  within  the  temperate  zone  :  occu- 
pies the  heart  and  splendors  of  our  continent :  and  is  the  most  magnifi- 
cent dwelling-place  marked  out  by  God  for  mans  abode. 

Three  more  similar  calcareous  basins,  each  drained  by  a  single  system  of 
rivers  :  the  basin  of  the  St.  Lawrence  :  the  basin  of  the  Saskatchewan  of 
Hudson  Bay ;  and  the  arctic  basin  of  the  Athabasca,  resting  upon  one 
another  and  upon  the  basin  of  the  Mississippi,  form  together  one  continu- 
ous expanse,  geologically  uniform  and  identical. 

This  immense  expanse  defines  itself  as  the  Calcareous  Plain  of  North 
America.  Limestone,  horizontally  stratified,  underlies  this  whole  expanse, 
being  formed,  like  cheese  from  milk,  from  the  sediment  and  pressure  of 
the  ocean  which  once  rolled  over  it,  but  has  now  retired. 

This  calcareous  plain,  thus  forming  a  unit  in  physical  geography,  em- 
braces four-sevenths  of  the  ayea  of  our  continent.  It  is  encompassed  all 
round  by  a  circuit  of  primary  mountains,  within  which  it  forms  an  amphi- 
theatre. 

168 


I 


PIKE'S  PEAK  AND    THE   SIERRA    SAX  JUAN.  1G9 

These  mountains  are  the  Allcghanies,  towards  tlie  Athuitic; ;  tlic  Cor- 
dilleras of  the  Sierra  Madre  and  the  Andes,  towards  the  Pacific.  The 
mouths  of  the  great  rivers  form  the  doors  or  outlets  through  them  to  the 
oceans.  This  circumferent  wall  of  mountains  is  of  immense  breadth 
towards  the  Pacific.  It  is  the  second  unit  in  physical  geography,  and 
covers  two-sevenths  of  the  area  of  our  continent. 

External  to  the  Mountain  Formation  is  the  Maritime  Slope,  washed 
by  the  oceans,  and  penetrated  by  the  tides.  This  external  division  is 
the  third  unit  in  physical  geography,  and  forms  all  round  one-seventh  of 
the  area  of  our  continent. 

Behold,  then,  the  physical  arrangement  of  our  continent ;  at  once 
simple,  complete,  and  sublime : — the  Calcareous  Plain,  four-sevenths ;  the 
Mountain  Formation,  two-sevenths ;  the  Maritime  Slope,  one-seventh. 

The  geological  structure  of  our  continent  has  the  same  order,  a  like 
magnitude  of  dimensions  and  arrangements,  a  parallel  simplicity.  The 
Calcareous  Plain  is  a  uniform  secondary  formation  of  limestone,  horizon- 
tally deposited  and  stratified.  The  Mountain  Formation  is  of  granite, 
presenting  the  primeval  crust  of  the  globe  rent  by  volcanic  forces  and 
elevated  vertically.  The  Maritime  Slope  presents  the  external  mountain 
base  partly  revealed,  and  partly  covered  by  the  washings  of  the  sea. 

Everybody  is  familiar  with  the  manufactui-e  of  shot.  This  is  accom- 
plished by  pouring  liquid  lead,  at  a  high  elevation,  through  perforated 
moulds.  Each  pellet  of  lead,  descending  through  the  air,  is  formed,  as  it 
cools,  into  a  sphere,  by  the  invisible  foi-ce  of  gravity.  The  globe  of  the 
earth  has  had  a  similar  origin — once  a  liquid  mass,  now  a  solid,  gravi- 
tating sphere,  such  as  we  inhabit  it. 

Greology  explains  how  the  material  mass  of  this  great  sphere  has  ar- 
ranged itself,  in  cooling,  into  layers  enveloping  one  another,  like  the 
successive  coatings  of  an  onion. 

Specific  gravity  accounts  for  the  relative  position  of  these  layers,  one 
upon  the  other,  and  explains  to  us  when  and  how  to  penetrate  to  their 
metalliferous  contents.  It  is  in  the  prtwietja?  rocks  exclusively  that  tha 
precious  metals  and  precious  stones  are  found.  The  base  metals  are  con- 
tained in  the  calcareous  or  secondary  rocks.  The  same  stupendous  scale 
holds  in  the  abundance  of  the  metals,  their  purity,  and  their  widely  ex- 
tended distribution. 

It  is  your  request  that  I  speak,  specially,  on  this  evening,  of  the  gold 
production  of  our  country,  and  specifically  of  the  reg'on  surrounding 
Pike's  Peak  and  the  Sier  a  Kan  Juan. 

Specific  gravity  guides  us  to  discover  the  rocks  in  which  the  precious 
metals  may  be  found,  and  where  they  are  totally  absent.    If  into  a  hollow 


170  APPENDIX. 

pillar  of  glass  there  be  poured  a  quart  of  quicksilver,  one  of  water,  one  of 
oil,  and  one  of  alcohol,  these  liquids  will  rest  one  upon  the  other,  in  this 
order :  if  a  piece  of  gold,  of  iron,  of  wood,  and  a  feather,  be  thrown  in, 
they  will  sink  :  the  gold  to  the  bottom,  the  iron  to  the  quicksilver,  the 
wood  to  the  Avater,  the  feather  to  the  oil. 

If  this  mass  be  congealed  to  ice,  this  arrangement  will  remain  solid  and 
permanent :  the  gold  must  be  sought  for  sedimentary  to  the  quicksilver  ; 
the  iron  above  it,  but  sedimentary  to  the  water ;  the  wood  sedimentary  to 
the  oil.  In  the  great  order  of  nature,  a  similar  arrangement  holds  in  the 
rocks  which  compose  the  globe  of  the  earth,  and  in  their  contents,  once 
all  liquid,  but  now  permanently  solid  in  the  order  of  their  relative  sjiecijic 
gravities.  It  is  the  primeval  ma.ss,  then,  of  the  Mountain  Formation, 
which  alone  is  auriferous^  and  within  it  only  can  the  precious  metals,  and 
especially  gold,  be  sought  for  with  success. 

The  Mountain  Formation,  which  occupies  the  western  jjurtion  of  our 
continent  to  the  extent  of  two-sevenths  of  its  whole  area,  consists  of  the 
Cordillera  of  the  Sierra  Madre  on  the  east,  the  Cordillera  of  the  Andes 
on  the  west,  and  the  Plateau  of  the  Table  Lands  embraced  between  them. 
It  is  uniformly  primeval  and  everywhere  auriferous. 

The  Plateau  of  the  Table  Lands  commences  above  Tehuantej^ec,  where 
the  Cordilleras  begin  to  ojien  from  one  another.  It  runs  through  the 
continent  to  Behring's  Strait,  and  is  1000  miles  in  width,  in  our  latitude 
(39°). 

The  general  elevation  of  its  surface  is  6000  feet  above  the  sea  ;  that  of 
the  Cordilleras  is  12,000  feet.  The  Plateau  is  traversed  across  by  great 
mountain  chains,  which  subdivide  it  into  basins.  Three  of  these  basins 
contain,  respectively,  the  great  rivers  the  Columbia,  the  Colorado,  and 
the  Rio  del  Norte,  which  gorge  the  Cordilleras  and  escape  to  the  seas. 

Three  other  basins  contain  the  stagnant  lakes,  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  the 
Laguna,  and  the  Lake  of  the  City  of  Mexico ;  these  have  no  outlets  or 
drainage  to  the  seas.  Of  these  mountain  chains  the  most  interesting  to 
us  is  the  Sierra  Mimbres.  This  divides  asunder  the  basins  of  the  Colo- 
rado and  the  Del  Norte,  which  rest  against  it  as  a  backbone. 

It  leaves  the  xcestern  flanlc  of  the  Cordillera  of  the  Sierra  INIadrc  in 
latitude  39°,  and,  traversing  the  Plateau  by  a  due  southern  course  for 
1400  miles,  joins  the  Cordillera  of  the  Andes  in  the  Mexican  State  of 
Durango,  in  latitude  23°.  This  mountain  chain  is  volcanic,  containing 
craters  and  the  uvcrfinw  of  lava.  The  Cordillera  of  the  Andes  is  also 
volcanic. 

These  mountain  chains  consist  of  the  primeval  rocks,  bnikcii  fnun  their 
original  positions,  heaved  up  edgewise  by  the  expansive  p(nver  ol'  the  in- 


PIKE'S  PEAK  AND    THE   SIERRA    SAN  JUAN.  171 

temal  fires  of  the  globe,  and  revealed  to  sight  and  search.  Moreover,  the 
Coloi'ado  River,  in  escaping  to  the  sea,  gorges  the  Cordillera  of  the  Andes 
diagonally,  having  rent  its  way  by  a  chasm  bored  through  the  very  bowels 
of  the  Cordillera,  athwart  from  base  to  base.  This  chasm,  400  miles  in 
length,  is  known  as  the  Caiion  of  the  Colorado. 

This  canon  presents  the  unicjue  and  novel  fact  to  mankind,  that  a  pri- 
mary mountain  chain  whose  summit  is  of  the  auriferous  rocks^  is  thus 
gorged  to  its  foundations,  many  thousand  feet  in  depth  !  It  is  here,  upon 
the  Plateau,  in  the  arcana  of  the  mountain  formation,  and  the  activity  of 
the  stupendous  forges  of  nature,  that  the  precious  metals  may  be  sought 
in  mass  and  in  position. 

Moreover,  the  Sierra  Mimbres,  where  its  southern  half  bisects  the 
Mexican  States  of  Durango  and  Chihuahua,  contains  twenty-one  mines 
of  silver,  which,  wrought  for  three  centuries  by  the  Spaniards,  have  fur- 
nished the  world  with  its  silver  coin  and  bullion.  Moreover,  where  the 
Sierra  Mimbres,  in  its  course  to  the  north,  approaches  to  its  junction  with 
the  Sierra  Madre,  it  increases  to  a  prodigious  bulk. 

It  rises  to  the  altitude  of  perpetual  snow,  and  assumes  for  200  miles 
the  local  name  of  Sierra  San  Juan.  Here  it  is  that  the  dislocation  of 
nature  by  volcanic  forces,  and  the  consequent  metalliferous  development, 
attain  their  highest  culmination. 

What  is  about  to  follow  the  arrival  of  our  pioneer  people  within  this 
region,  may  be  exactly  illustrated  by  what  is  already  done  within  the 
region  of  the  great  Calcareous  Plain. 

We  have  seen  that  the  calcareous  'plain.,  being  formed  beneath  a  great 
ocean,  condensed  from  its  filtration  and  by  its  pressure,  contains  only  the 
base  metals,  copper,  iron,  lead,  zinc.  A  metalliferous  band  of  these  metals 
is  traced  diagonally  across  it,  traversing  from  Southwestern  Texas,  through 
that  State,  through  Arkansas,  Missouri,  Wisconsin,  brushing  the  shores 
of  Lake  Superior  and  of  Hudson  Bay,  to  the  ocean  shore  opposite  Green- 
land. 

Points  of  culmination  of  these  various  metals  are  found  where  they 
reveal  themselves  above  the  general  surface  in  mass  ami  in  position.  Thus, 
iron  appears  in  Missouri  in  native  purity,  protruding  in  mountain  masses 
over  many  hundred  square  miles  of  surface  ;  the  same  is  the  form  of 
copper  adjacent  to  Lake  Superior  ;  so  also  with  lead  in  Missouri  and  in 
Wisconsin. 

Now,  the  same  arrangement  characterizes  the  immense  primeval  forma- 
tion which  occupies  our  continent  from  Cape  Horn  to  Behring's  Strait,  and 
which  is  throughout  impregnated  with  the  precious  metals !  As  gold  is  every- 
where else  found  within  it  in   the  form  of  iirains  or  scales,  or  minute 


172  APPENDIX. 

lumps:  so  is  it  possible  fur  it  to  culminate  in  mass  and  in  position  ^  where 
the  auriferous  rocks  are  upheaved  to  form  the  vertical  masses  of  the 
Sierra  San  Juan  and  the  Andes,  and  are  then  gorged  into  their  bowels  by 
the  canon  of  the  Colorado. 

The  search  for  gold  has  heretofore  confined  itself  to  the  external  flanks 
of  the  primeval  mountains,  where  they  front  the  sea,  and  where  the  rivers 
descend  from  their  backs.  Why  it  has  here  been  found  only  in  grains, 
scales,  and  small  lumps  may  be  thus  illustrated :  I  suppose  myself  at  my 
camp-fire  in  the  wilderness,  engaged  in  boiling  rice  :  into  a  camp-kettle  of 
boiling  water  I  throw  a  cup  of  rice.  This  rice,  after  a  time,  settles  by  its 
specific  (jravity  into  a  sedimentary  mass  beneath  the  water — the  water 
above  retains  a  milky  whiteness.  This  whiteness  is  due  to  the  presence 
of  minute  particles  of  rice  remaining  suspended  through  the  body  of 
the  fluid.  Being  frozen  into  ice,  this  condition  remains  fixed  in  solid 
form. 

The  presence  of  the  gold  in  the  auriferous  rocks  has  had  a  similar  ori- 
gin, and  presents  identical  conditions.  It  is  the  attrition  of  the  elements 
upon  the  surface  rocks  and  veins  only  that  have  as  yet  attracted  at- 
tention. It  is  beneath  that  we  must  search  for  the  sedimentary  mass  ;  the 
possibility  to  do  which  now  first  presents  itself  as  we  advance  within  the 
labyrinth  of  the  volcanic  masses  and  canons  of  the  Plateau. 

My  own  personal  experience,  earned  during  three  military  expeditions 
made  between  the  years  1844—49,  rendered  desperate  from  the  then  un- 
known complication  of  the  country  added  to  the  numerical  strength  and 
savage  character  of  the  Indians,  is  not  without  value. 

The  facts  then  and  since  collected  l)y  me  are  so  numerous  and  so  posi- 
tive, that  I  entertain  an  absolute  conviction,  derived  from  them,  that 
gold  in  mass  and  in  position  and  infinite  in  (juantity  will,  within  the  coming 
three  years,  reveal  itself  to  the  energy  of  our  pioneers.  All  the  precious 
metals  and  precious  stones  will  also  reveal  themselves  in  equal  abundance 
in  this  region  so  propitious  to  their  production. 

Such  a  development  has  nothing  in  it  speculative  or  theoretical.  It 
comes  of  necessity  in  the  order  of  time,  and  as  an  inevitable  sequence  to 
the  planting  of  empire  in  Texas,  in  California,  in  Oregon,  in  Kansas,  and 
in  Utah. 

As  these  other  developments  have  preceded  it  in  the  order  of  time,  and 
encompa.ss  it  all  round,  this  now  comes  to  unite,  to  complete,  to  consum- 
mate the  rest,  and  to  give  form  and  power  and  splendor  to  the  whole. 

The  inquiry  which  acquaints  us  with  the  climate,  the  agriculture,  and 
the  domestic  geography  of  this  immense  region,  is  still  equally  interesting 
and   important  as  its  metals.      It  was  uj)oii   the  summit  oi'  this  jilateau, 


PIKE'S  PEAK  AND    THE  SIEKRA    SAN  JUAN.  173 

where  it  traverses  Mexico  and  Peru,  that  the  semi-civilized  empires  of 
Montezuma  and  the  Incas  were  found,  when  a  sterile  barbarism  pervaded 
every  other  portion  of  the  continent  of  America. 

The  distance  hence  to  I'ike's  Peak  is  less  than  TOO  miles.  It  is  reached 
by  the  great  road  of  the  Arkansas  River,  traversing  straight  to  the  west, 
and  ascending  the  imperceptible  grade  of  the  Great  Plains  clear  to  the 
mountain  base.  Gold  is  here  discovered  as  soon  as  the  primeval  rocks 
rise  from  beneath  the  calcareous  plain. 

Pike's  Peak,  which  rises  to  the  altitude  of  14,500  feet  above  the  sea, 
is  the  abrupt  colossal  termination  of  the  mountain  promontory,  which, 
protruding  eastward  from  the  Cordillera  100  miles,  sunders  from  one 
another  the  sources  of  the  South  Platte  and  the  Arkansas  Rivers. 

Where  this  promontory  connects  with  the  Cordillera  is  a  supremely 
grand  focal  point  of  primary  mountain  chains,  primary  rivers,  and  pares. 
This  focal  point  is  in  the  same  latitude  as  San  Francisco  and  St.  Louis 
(39°),  is  about  1000  miles  from  each,  and  in  the  centre  between  them. 

The  direction  of  the  Cordillera  is  from  northwest  to  southeast.  From  its 
western  flank  protrudes  a  promontory,  balancing  and  similar  to  Pike's 
Peak,  known  as  Elk  Mountain  :  it  sunders  from  one  another  the  Grand 
River  of  the  Colorado  and  the  Eagle,  terminating  abruptly  within  the  angle 
of  their  junction.  Radiating  due  south  is  the  Sierra  Ifimhres,  known 
for  200  miles  by  the  snowy  peaks  of  San  Juan :  this  chain  sunders  the 
waters  of  Eagle  River  from  the  Rio  del  Norte. 

The  southern  arm  of  the  Cordillera  sunders  the  waters  of  the  Rio  del 
Norte  from  the  Arkansas  River :  the  northern  arm,  the  waters  of  the 
Platte  River  from  the  Rio  Grande  of  the  Colorado.  Such  is  this  focal 
summit,  from  which  five  primary  mountains  and  five  rivers  simultaneously 
depart. 

Upon  the  Platte  is  the  pare  known  as  the  Bayou  Salado  ;  upon  the  Rio 
Grande  of  the  Colorado,  the  pare  known  as  the  Middle  Pare  ;  upon  the 
Rio  del  Norte,  the  pare  called  the  Bayou  of  San  Luis.  The  Arkansas 
and  Eagle  Rivers  have  no  pares :  they  defile  outward  through  stupendous 
canons. 

The  pares,  scooped  out  of  the  main  dorsal  mass  of  the  Cordillera  by  the 
rivers  which  bisect  them,  are,  each  one  of  them,  an  immense  amphitheatre 
of  singular  beauty,  fertility,  and  temperate  atmosphere ;  they  approach 
one  another  where  they  rest  against  the  Cordillera  at  the  extreme  sources 
of  the  rivers. 

Behold,  then,  the  panorama  which  s;'.lutes  the  vision  of  one  who  has 
surmounted  this  supreme  focal  summit  of  the  Cordillera !  Infinite  in 
variety  of  features ;  each  feature  intense  in  the  magnitude  and  the  gi-an- 


174  APPENDIX. 

deur  of  its  mould  ;  in  front,  in  roar,  and  on  either  hand.  Nature  ascending 
in  all  her  elements  to  the  standard  of  superlative  sul)liniit3^ ! 

Beneath,  the  family  of  Pares :  around,  the  radiating  backs  of  the  pri- 
meval mountains :  the  primary  rivers  starting  to  the  seas :  above,  the 
ethereal  canopy  intensely  blue,  effulgent  with  the  unclouded  sun  by  day, 
and  stars  by  night :  to  the  east,  the  undulating  plains,  expanding  one  hun- 
dred leagues,  to  dip,  like  the  ocean,  beneath  the  encircling  horizoif*:  to  the 
west,  the  sublime  Plateau,  checkered  by  volcanic  peaks  and  mesas,  chan- 
nelled as  a  labyrinth  by  the  profound  gorges  of  the  streams ! 

It  is  manifest  with  what  ease  the  pioneers,  already  engaged  in  mining 
at  the  entrance  of  the  Bayou  Salado,  wdl  in  another  season  ascend  through 
it  to  the  Cordillera,  surmount  its  crests,  and  descend  into  the  Bayou  San 
Luis.  They  will  develop  at  every  step  gold  in  new  and  increasing 
abundance. 

Besides,  access  is  equally  facile  by  the  Huerfano,  an  affluent  of  the 
Arkansas  coming  down  from  the  Spanish  Peak,  100  miles  farther  to  the 
south.  From  New  Mexico,  the  approach  is  by  ascending  the  Rio  Bravo 
del  Norte.  The  snowy  battlements  of  the  Sierra  San  eTuan  form  the  west- 
ern wall  of  the  Bayou  San  Luis.  From  its  middle  flank  the  Sierra  San 
Juan  projects  to  the  southwest  a  chain  of  remarkable  volcanic  mountains, 
known  as  the  Sierra  La  Plata  (silver  mountain).  This  chain  divides 
asunder  the  waters  of  the  Great  Colorado  from  the  Rio  San  Juan,  and, 
filling  the  angle  of  their  junction,  forms  the  perpendicular  wall  of  the 
Great  Caiion. 

It  is  to  this  remarkable  mountain  chain,  and  its  surrounding  region, 
that  I  have  desired  to  conduct  you,  and  here  stop,  in  the  midst  of  the 
veritable  arcana  of  the  Mountain  Formation  and  its  metalliferous  elements. 

The  Sierra  La  Plata  is  400  miles  in  length,  having  its  course  west-south- 
west. Along  its  dorsal  crest  are  volcanic  masses  penetrating  to  perpetual 
snow ;  its  flanks  descend  by  immense  terraces  of  carboniferous  and  sul- 
phurous limestone.  All  formations  of  the  globe  here  come  together, 
mingle  with  one  another,  acquire  harmony,  and  arrange  themselves  side 
by  side  in  gigantic  proportions. 

Lava,  porphyritic  granite,  sandstone,  limestone,  the  precious  and  base 
metals,  precious  stones,  salt,  marble,  coal,  thermal  and  medicinal  streams, 
fantastic  mountains  called  cristones,  or  abrupt  peaks,  level  mesas  of  great 
fertility,  caiions,  delicious  valleys,  rivers,  and  great  forests ;  all  these,  and 
a  thousand  other  varieties,  find  room,  appear  in  succession,  in  perfect  order 
and  in  perfectly  graceful  j^roportions. 

Remoteness  from  the  sea,  and  altitude,  secure  to  this  region  a  tonic 
atmosphere,  warm,  cloudless,  brilliant,  and  serene.     The  aboriginal  people 


PIKE'S  PEAK  AND    THE   SIERKA    SAN  JUAN.  175 

are  numerous,  robust,  and  intelligent.  They  are  the  Navajos  and  Yuta 
Indians.  Tliey  have  skill  in  agriculture  and  weaving,  rear  great  herds 
of  horses,  cattle,  and  sheep,  but  construct  neither  permanent  nor  tem- 
porary houses,  so  dry  and  favorable  is  the  atmosphere. 

Here,  also,  occurs  a  remarkable,  isolated  mountain,  known  to  rumor  for 
half  a  century,  but  only  now  locally  identified.  This  is  Cerro  di  Sal  (Salt 
Mountain).  This  rises  among  the  western  spurs  of  the  Sierra  La  Plata, 
to  an  altitude  of  9000  feet,  appearing  as  an  irregular  cone  of  great  bulk. 
A  pure  stratified  mass  of  rock-salt,  its  flanks  are  channelled  by  the  little 
river  Dolores,  whose  waters,  saturated  with  liquid  salt,  yield  it  again  in 
its  lower  course,  in  granulated  beds  of  snowy  whiteness,  tinted  with  Ver- 
million streaks  from  the  beds  of  selenite  with  which  the  salt  formation 
alternates. 

Such,  my  fellow-citizens,  are  the  facts  and  reflections  which  I  have 
selected  for  your  attention  in  speaking  upon  the  gold  region  of  Pike's 
Peak  and  the  Sierra  San  Juan.  The  superlative  character  of  this  region 
engaged  the  enthusiastic  pen  and  patriotic  instincts  of  President  Jefierson, 
more  than  half  a  century  ago. 

Overshadowed  during  this  long  interval  by  political  and  military  excite- 
ments, which  have  deflected  elsewhere  the  progressive  columns  of  our 
pioneer  people,  it  now  recurs  to  restore  the  pre-eminent  centinental  char- 
acter which  inspired  the  generation  who  founded  our  republican  Union. 

Who,  and  what,  are  these  people  that  I  now  address  ?  We  are  not  the 
people  of  the  North  ;  we  are  not  the  people  of  the  South  ;  nor  of  the  East ; 
nor  of  the  West.  We  are  emphatically,  and  par  excellence,  the  people  of 
the  Centre !  Inspirations,  oracular  by  their  source  and  their  antiquity, 
admonish  us  to  resume  our  distributive  position,  and  develop  the  energies 
which  assume  and  keep  the  lead. 

Look  upon  this  map  of  the  world,  upon  which  science  delineates  the 
zodiac  of  empires  and  the  isothermal  axis  of  progress !  We  have  our 
homes  around  the  centre  of  this  our  northern  continent,  the  centre  of  our 
continental  Union,  the  centre  of  the  Mississippi  basin.  Behold,  upon  the 
right  hand,  the  European  continent,  with  its  260,000,000  of  people ;  it 
slopes  towards  our  eastern  seaboard  and  faces  towards  the  west ! 

Behold,  upon  the  left  hand,  the  continent  of  Omental  Asia  and  its 
islands,  with  its  population  of  650,000,000  ;  it  slopes  towards  our  western 
seaboard  and  faces  to  the  east ! 

These  external  continents,  dividing  between  them  the  population  of 
the  world,  both  face  America  and  face  one  another  across  America.  We 
occupy  the  middle  space  between  them,  and  at  once  separate  them  asunder 
and  connect  them  together.     From   Paris  to  Pekin,  travelling  by  our 


17G  APPENDIX. 

threshold,  is  but  a  journey  of  10,000  miles.  It  bisects  the  temperate 
zone — it  is  the  line  of  land  and  way  travel  of  mankind. 

But  a  fact  of  profound  significance  to  us,  revealed  by  physical  geog- 
raphy, remains  to  be  considered.  It  is  along  the  axis  of  the  isothermal 
zone  of  the  Northern  Hemisphere,  that  the  principles  of  revealed  civiliza- 
tion make  the  circuit  of  the  globe.  This  isothermal  zone  deflects  from  the 
geographical  zone  (which  is  a  flat  section  of  the  globe),  undulating  to  the 
north  and  to  the  south,  to  preserve  a  constant  identity  of  temperature. 

Under  the  influence  of  the  warm  maritime  climates,  it  rises  high  above 
the  40th  degree  of  latitude ;  under  the  influence  of  the  continental  climates, 
it  is  depressed  to  the  south  of  the  40th  degree.  With  what  the  history 
of  six  thousand  years  practically  demonstrates,  the  proofs  of  physical 
geography  agree. 

Along  this  axis  have  arisen  successively  the  great  cities  of  China  and 
of  India,  of  Babylon,  Jerusalem,  Athens,  Rome,  Paris,  London,  in  the 
older  continents — upon  our  continent,  the  seaboard  cities,  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore ;  Pittsburg,  Cincinnati,  and  St.  Louis.  The 
channel  of  the  Missouri  is  its  onward  track  to  us :  whence  it  passes  by 
the  Kansas  basins,  the  Sweetwater,  Snake  River,  and  the  Columbia,  to 
Vancouver's  Island,  upon  the  North  Pacific  shore. 

We,  then,  the  'people  of  the  centi-e,  are  upon  the  lines  of  intense  and 
intelligent  energy,  where  civilization  has  its  largest  field,  its  highest  devel- 
opments, its  inspired  form.  Along  this  line  have  come,  from  the  plateau 
of  Syria,  our  religion,  our  sciences,  our  civilization,  our  social  manners, 
our  arts  and  agriculture,  the  horse,  our  articles  of  food  and  raiment ;  and 
here  is  the  eternal  fire  from  which  is  rekindled,  when  it  has  expired,  the 
spirit  of  the  ''  unconquerable  mind,  and  freedom's  holy  flame." 

We  have  seen  depart  a  perverse  generation,  distinguished  by  civic 
discord.  An  unscrupulous  seaboard  power  has  aspired  to  found  a  repub- 
lic of  the  North ;  a  republic  of  the  South ;  a  republic  of  the  Pacific 
shores.  A  nefarious  federal  policy,  operating  for  forty  years,  has  occluded 
with  savages  and  deserts  the  delicious  central  I'egion  of  the  prairies,  the 
great  plains,  the  plateau,  and  the  mountains. 

The  physical  geography  of  our  country  has  been  officially  caricatured, 
concealed,  and  maligned.  The  solid  continental  republic,  founded  in  1776 
and  completed  in  1787,  has  been  nullified  by  interpolated  monarchies. 

The  Land  system  has  crushed  and  plundered  the  continental  people 
with  the  brutalizing  pressure  of  mediaeval  feudalism. 

The  Indian  system  has  walled  up,  as  in  a  Bastile,  the  whole  central 
meridian  of  our  continent. 

Forced  out  artificially  uiioii  the  flanks,  we  have  seen  our  pioneer  energies 


PIKE'S  PEAK  AND    THE  SIERRA    SAN  JUAN.  I77 

driven  in  fragments  into  Florida,  into  Texas,  into  California,  into  Oregon, 
into  Minnesota.  We  behold  on  tlie  one  hand  a  tier  of  artificial  seaboard 
States,  isolated  ujion  the  maritime  slope ;  on  the  other  hand,  the  continental 
centre,  an  innuense  disc  of  howling  Avilderness. 

Foreign  wars  have  been  waged,  federal  revenues  and  patronage  ex- 
hausted, federal  law  and  power  sti'etched  out  to  every  device  of  tyranny, 
the  federal  constitution  violated  in  every  sacred  principle,  to  erect  this 
monarchical  seaboard  power,  and  establish  it  in  perpetual  dominance  over 
the  continent. 

For  the  centre,  civil  wars,  civil  discords,  false  geography,  calumnies, 
every  form  of  meretricious  and  deceptive  political  agitation,  have  been 
suicidally  fomented. 

The  foundations  of  the  Union,  lost  in  the  centre  and  scattered  around 
an  invisible  circumference :  the  Union  itself,  incessantly  assailed  and  per- 
petually menaced :  has  seemed  to  approach  the  twilight  of  its  existence, 
and,  lost  to  the  guardian  care  of  the  people,  has  been  in  suspense  between 
the  infuriated  passions  of  extreme  sectional  fanatics. 

Our  great  country  demands  a  period  of  stern  virtue,  of  holy  zeal,  of 
regenerating  patriotism,  of  devoted  citizens. 

It  is  to  the  people  of  the  great  central  State  of  Missouri  that  I  speak. 
To  exalt  their  intrepid  enthusiasm  is  my  aim.  Open  the  track  across  the 
Plateau  to  the  other  sea,  and  we  are  absolutely  the  leaders  of  the  world, 
heading  the  column  to  the  Oriental  shores. 

With  us  are  the  continental  eagles  and  the  continental  cause,  immortal- 
ized by  the  purity  of  Washington,  illuminated  by  the  wisdom  of  Jefferson, 
vindicated  and  restored  by  the  illustrious  Jackson. 

Let  us  condense  around  these  eagles  and  advance.  It  is  the  predestined 
mission  of  mankind,  confided  to  America  to  fulfil,  to  our  generation  to 
complete. 

Night  wanes,  the  vapors  round  the  mountains  curled 
Burst  into  morn,  and  light  awakes  the  world  ! 


12 


GEOGRxVPHICAL   MEMORANDA  OX   THE   PACIFIC 
RAILROAD. 

/  CHAPTER   I. 

Inasmuch  as  the  general  mind  seems  willing  to  entertain  with  favor 
and  judge  candidly  what  maybe  truthfully  said  of  a  National  Rail- 
road TO  THE  Pacific,  and  everywhere  is  indicated  a  growing  taste  for 
whatever  may  solidly  enhance  the  prosperity  of  our  continental  system,  I 
have  condensed  into  these  few  chapters  the  general  views  resulting  from 
a  long  experience. 

This  subject  touches  profoundly  all  the  existing  relations  of  the  human 
family,  connecting  three  continents,  and  unites  together,  by  a  short  line 
of  ten  thousand  miles,  the  thousand  millions  of  people  inhabiting  EuROPK, 
America,  and  Asia.  This  short  line  traverses  the  middle  of  the  north 
temperate  zone,  perforating  nine-tenths  of  the  land,  the  population,  the 
production,  and  the  consumption  of  the  world. 

I  say,  it  is  necessary  for  one  who  will  write  with  dignity  upon  such  a 
subject,  so  searching  and  omnipotent,  to  grasp  boldly  its  immense  scope 
of  matter ;  to  rely  upon  solid  statistics ;  to  face  and  brave  old  opinions ; 
to  repudiate  the  rubbish  into  which  thousands  of  years  of  staggering  and 
abortive  efforts  have  submerged  it ;  and  to  condense  it  to  the  tangible 
form  of  propositions,  which  may  be  fractically  handled  for  a  final  solu- 
tion. 

The  shortest  trail  whereby  the  local  works,  now  on  hand  and  proposed, 
may  be  understood,  the  public  judgment  matured,  and  opinion  instructed 
and  concentrated  for  action,  is  to  condense  by  rigid  analysis,  and  draw 
into  one  view,  the  multitudinous  facts  of  geography,  commerce,  politics, 
and  progress  under  which  the  American  people  are  so  rapidly  erecting  a 
supreme  democratic  republican  empire,  and  fitting  it  to  the  surface  of  the 
northern  American  continent  and  islands. 

And  Jirst,  must  be  emancipated  from  the  dogmatic  European  writers 
(who,  with  procru.stean  despotism,  rive  up  all  other  portions  of  the  globe 
to  fit  their  own  pigmy  theories)  the  .'symmetrical  and  sublime  geoffraph- 
ical  j)lan  of  our  continent. 
178 


MEMORANDA    ON    THE   PACIFIC  RAILROAD.  179 

This,  heretofore  veiled  from  the  public  mind  by  every  form  of  contor- 
tion, is  reducible  to  an  exact  system,  easily  understood  and  eternal.  The 
reverse  geographical  form  in  which  our  continent  is  moulded  :  the  contrast 
of  all  the  others  :  makes  a  new  and  original  grandeur  of  society,  not  only 
possible,  but  compulsory  upon  us. 

To  disinfect  ourselves  of  inane  nepotism  to  Europe  in  other  things  as  we 
have  done  in  politics  :  to  ponder  boldly  on  ourselves  and  our  mission,  and 
develop  an  indigenous  dignity — to  appreciate  Asiatic  science,  civilization, 
commerce,  and  population — these  are  essential  preparatory  steps  to  which 
we  must  tone  our  minds. 

This,  then,  is  the  simple  plan  of  North  America : — The  Andes,  having 
traversed  the  whole  length  of  South  America,  passing  out  from  the  Isthmus 
of  Tehuantepec,  continue  to  follow,  unchanged  in  character,  the  Pacific 
shore  of  North  America  clear  up  to  Behring's  Strait.  Known  successively 
as  the  Cordilleras  of  Anahuac  in  Mexico,  Sierra  Nevada  in  California, 
and  Cascade  Mountains  in  Oregon,  it  is  all  along  the  same  auriferous  and 
volcanic  Andes.  It  has  a  narrow  base  washed  on  the  west  by  the  tide  ; 
immense  altitude ;  summits  of  perpetual  snow ;  and  is  formed  of  the 
columnar  vulcan  rock,  or  a  molten  mass  of  lava. 

Between  this  continuous  escarpment  of  rock  and  the  sea,  is  the  mari- 
time region  of  the  Pacific,  which  contains  all  the  present  American  popu- 
lation residing  in  California  and  Oregon,  upon  the  smaller  rivers  run- 
ning directly  into  the  sea,  and  parallel  to  one  another. 

It  resembles,  and  is  the  counterpart  of,  the  maritime  Atlantic  declivity ; 
which  contains  the  old  thirteen  States,  and  which  is  shut  ofi"  from  the 
valleys  of  the  Mississippi  and  St.  Lawrence  by  the  Alleghanies. 

But,  at  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  the  Andes  bifurcates,  throwing 
along  the  coast  of  the  Mexican  Gulf  the  great  Cordillera  of  the  Sierra 
Madre,  which  opens  rapidly  from  the  Andes,  as  the  continent  widens. 
This  assumes  in  our  territory  the  name  of  Rochj  Mountains,  and  traverses 
north  to  the  shores  of  the  Arctic  Sea.  It  is  some  1400  miles  apart  from, 
and  to  the  east  of,  the  Andes,  and  forms  the  primai-y  divide,  the  "  divor- 
tia  aqiiarum'^  of  America. 

The  absolute  separate  existence  of  these  ftvo  prodigious  Cordilleras, 
must  remain  distinctly  in  the  mind,  if  anybody  intends  to  understand 
Ame7'ican  geography. 

The  interval  between  them,  from  end  to  end,  is  occupied  by  the  Pla- 
teau OF  the  Table  Lands,  on  which  are  alike  the  cities  of  Mexico, 
Chihuahua,  and  the  Mormon  city  of  the  Salt  Lake.  This  Plateau  of  the 
Table  Lands  is  two-sevenths  of  the  surface  of  North  America :  is  some 
6000  feet  elevated  above  the  external  oceans  :  and  gives  as  complete  a 


180  _  APPENDIX. 

separation  between  the  Cordilleras  on  the  flanks,  as  does  the  Atlantic, 
whose  waters  roll  between  the  Alleghanies  and  the  Alps. 

Thus  that  side  of  the  American  continent  which  may  be  defined  to 
front  Asia^  and  sheds  its  waters  in  that  direction,  has  these  four  charac- 
teristic divisions: — the  maritime  front;  the  Andes;  the  Plateau  op 
THE  Table  Lands  ;  and  the  Sierra  Madre,  all  extending  the  whole 
length  from  south  to  north,  parallel  to  one  another,  and  covering  in  the 
aggregate  two-fifths  of  its  whole  area. 

These  two  continuous  j)rimary  mountain  chains  define  themselves  as  the 
Western  and  the  Eastern  Cordilleras. 

The  remaining  tlu-ecfifths  of  the  continent  sheds  its  waters  towards  the 
Atlantic.  Here  too  the  same  sublime  grandeur  and  simplicity  of  plan 
are  discernible.  From  the  Sierra  Madre,  the  whole  continent  descends  to 
the  seas  by  immense  planes,  resembling  the  glacis  of  a  fortress,  or  a  flat- 
tened octagonal  house-roof. 

This  plane,  once  the  bed  of  immense  oceans,  of  which  the  Sierra  Madre 
was  the  shore,  and  bevelled  by  the  action  of  the  watery  mass,  now  forms 
the  gentle  slope  down  which  descend,  to  replenish  the  oceans,  the  surplus 
waters  of  the  Sierra  Ifadre  and  the  plane  itself.  Guttered  eveiywhere 
by  these  descending  water-courses,  seaming  its  surface  as  innumerably  as 
the  veins  which  carry  back  the  blood  to  the  human  heart,  these  aqueous 
channels  flow  down  the  difierent  faces  of  the  great  plane,  proportioned  in 
length  and  size  to  the  distances  to  be  traversed. 

Thus,  down  the  smaller  face,  which  fronts  the  Mexican  Gulf, — at 
present  comprehended  in  Texas, — run  the  lower  Del  Norte,  the  Nueces, 
Colorado,  Trinity,  and  Brazos. 

Down  the  grand  eastern  front,  called  by  us  the  "  Great  Prairie  Plains," 
descend  the  Red  River  of  Louisiana,  the  Canadian,  Arkansas,  and  Kansas, 
the  Platte  (with  its  three  forks),  and  the  sublime  Missouri  itself.  All  of 
these,  running  due  east,  parallel  to  one  another,  very  straight  and  without 
rapids,  are  received  into  the  great  central  trough,  the  Mississippi,  which 
runs  from  north  to  south  across  their  direction,  and  their  accumulated 
waters  are  discharged  into  the  Gulf. 

From  the  same /oca?  point  with  the  Missouri,  radiate  two  fronts.  The 
one  is  drained  by  the  system  of  rivers  tributary  to  the  Saskatchewan, 
opening  to  the  northeast,  and  widening  to  embrace  the  immense  inland 
sea  of  Hudson  Bay.  The  other  is  upon  the  Athabasca  or  McKenzie 
River,  sloping  due  north,  and  occupying  the  vast  hyperhorean  region 
stretching  to  the  Arctic  Sea. 

From  an  elevated  swell  in  the  plane  between  the  MLs.souri  and  Sas- 
katchewan, protruding  from  the  Sierra  Madre  eastwardly  along  the  49th 


MEMORANDA    ON   THE  PACIFIC  RAILROAD.  181 

degree,  about  700  miles,  issue  the  waters  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  and 
St.  Lawrence.  The  first  goes  directly  south  to  scour  out  the  trough  of  the 
continent.  The  latter  flows  down  the  narrow  basin  of  the  lakes  and  their 
river  St.  Lawrence,  to  where  the  glacis  reaches  the  sea  and  forms  the 
shores  of  the  gulf  of  that  name. 

Thus,  from  the  dividing  wall  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  the  continent  de- 
scends uninterruptedly  to  the  Gulf:  the  North  Atlantic  :  and  the  Arctic 
Seas.  The  perfect  gentleness  of  this  descent,  scarcely  distinguishable 
from  a  level,  is  perceptible  from  the  rivers,  which  are  entirely  free  from 
rapids  and  everywhere  navigable  when  water  is  sufficient  in  their  beds. 

The  sublimest  example  is  the  watery  surface  of  the  Missouri,  whose 
liquid  plane,  dipping  by  perhaps  thirteen  inches  to  the  mile,  has  an  un- 
ruffled uniformity  of  descent  through  its  whole  course  of  5000  miles  to 
the  sea. 

But  to  render  complete  this  geographical  delineation,  there  rises  all 
along  the  Atlantic,  and  parallel  with  its  shore,  the  dividing  range  of 
the  Alleghany,  uninterrupted  from  Baton  Rouge  to  the  Gulf  of  St. 
Lawrence. 

External  to  this  is  the  narrow  seahoard  declivity  which  first  received 
the  European  settlements,  and  still  holds  the  densest  population :  but 
within,  a  reverse  glacis  descends  to  the  Mississippi  and  St.  Lawrence, 
filled  with  States  to  the  central  trough  of  the  continent. 

Practically,  the  basins  of  these  great  rivei's  are  narrowed  to  mere  passes 
at  their  mouths  by  the  points  of  the  mountain  chains  which  fence  them 
from  the  sea,  expanding  to  an  immense  breadth  in  the  interior,  and  fading 
into  one  another,  where  they  touch,  by  prairie  divides  of  imperceptible 
elevation.  They  form  together  one  vast  boiol,  whose  waters  flow  from  the 
circumference  near  the  seas,  inwards,  to  centres  which  are  near  and 
already  connected  by  art  as  at  Chicago.  This  bowl  or  plain  is  everywhere 
calcareous,  being  paved  beneath  the  soil  with  an  undulating  covering  of 
limestone,  as  is  a  frozen  lake  with  one  of  ice. 

To  recapitulate  and  grave  it  upon  the  mind :  as  with  the  style  where- 
with the  artist  cuts  into  steel  the  deeply  shaded  lines  of  a  picture :  the 
whole  Atlantic  side  of  the  continent  is  one  calcareous  plain  of  many  fronts. 
Each  front  has  a  mighty  system  of  arteries,  demonstrating  its  gradual 
slope,  and  carrying  its  surplus  waters  to  the  sea.  Yet  by  the  rising  of 
the  eastern  halves  of  the  basins  against  the  Atlantic  barriers  it  is  also  a 
sublime  bowl,  into  which  the  waters  have  first  a  concentric  direction,  as 
they  accumulate  into  the  troughs  that  conduct  them  to  the  sea. 

The  superlative  wonder  about  this  is,  that  here,  in  North  America,  is 
rolled  out  in  one  uniform  expanse  of  2,300,000  square  miles,  an  area  of 


182  APPENDIX. 

arable  land  equivalent  in  sui-fhoe  to  the  aggregate  of  the  valleys  of  the 
other  continents,  which  are  small,  single,  and  isolated. 

Moreover,  the  interlacing  of  the  rivers  forms  everywhere  a  complete  sys- 
tem of  navigation :  blended  into  one  by  public  works  of  the  easiest  con- 
struction :  and  forming,  by  their  double  banks,  a  slwre-Une  equal  in  extent 
to  the  coasts  of  all  the  oceans. 

To  master  the  geographical  portrait  of  our  continent  thus  in  its  unity 
of  system,  is  necessary  to  every  American  citizen — as  necessary,  as  it  is  to 
understand  the  radical  principles  of  the  Federal  Government  over  it,  and 
of  political  society. 

Our  country  is  immensely  grand,  and  to  understand  it  in  its  simple 
grandeur,  it  is  not  an  extravagance,  but  is  a  homespun  matter-of-fact  duty. 
If  we  flinch  from  this  duty,  we  recede  from  the  divine  mission  chalked 
out  for  us  by  the  Creator's  hand,  sink  below  the  dignity  of  our  ancestors, 
and  fall  into  the  decrepitude  of  the  voluntary,  illiterate,  and  emasculate 
subjects  of  Europe. 

To  enforce  these  truths  with  yet  greater  stringency,  and  to  tempt  or 
lash  the  popular  mind  out  of  its  cringing  and  criminal  torpidity,  still 
another  illustration  remains  of  the  paramount  significance  to  us  of  geo- 
grupliiad  facts.  This  is  the  contrast  between  our  own  and  the  other  four 
continents. 

Europe,  the  smallest  of  the  grand  divisions  of  the  land,  contains  in  its 
centre  the  icy  masses  of  the  Alps ;  from  round  their  declivities  radiate 
the  large  rivers  of  that  continent ;  the  Danube  directly  east  to  the 
Euxine ;  the  Po  and  Rhone  south  to  the  Mediterranean  ;  the  Rhine  to 
the  Northern  Ocean. 

AValled  off  by  the  Pyrenees  and  Carpathians,  divergent  and  isolated, 
are  the  Tagus,  the  Elbe,  and  other  single  rivers,  aifluents  of  the  Baltic, 
the  Atlantic,  the  Mediterranean,  and  the  Euxine. 

Descending //-o??*  common  radiant  points,  and  diverging  every  way  from 
one  another,  no  intercomvuniicatlon  exists  between  the  rivers  of  Europe  : 
navigation  is  petty  and  feeble :  nor  have  art  and  commerce,  during  many 
centuries,  united  so  many  small  valleys,  remotely  isolated  by  impenetrable 
barriers. 

Hence  upon  each  river  dwells  a  distinct  people,  differing  from  all  the 
rest  in  race,  language,  habits,  and  interests.  Though  often  politically 
amalgamated  by  conquest,  they  again  relapse  into  fragments  from  innate 
geographical  incoherence.  The  history  of  these  nations  is  a  story  of  per- 
petual war ;  of  mutual  extermination  ;  and  an  appalling  dramatic  cata- 
logue of  a  few  splendid  tyrannies,  crushing  multitudinous  millions  of 
submissive  and  unclironicled  serfs. 


MEMORANDA    ON    THE   PACIFIC  RAILROAD.  183 

Exactly  similar  to  Europe,  though  grander  in  size  and  population,  is 
Asia.  From  the  stupendous  central  barrier  of  the  Himalayas  run  the 
four  great  rivers  of  China,  due  east,  to  discharge  themselves  beneath  the 
rising  sun :  towards  the  south  run  the  rivers  of  Cochin  China,  the  Ganges, 
and  the  Indus :  towards  the  west,  the  rivers  of  the  Caspian :  and  north 
through  Siberia  to  the  ARCTIC  Seas,  many  rivers  of  the  first  magnitude. 

During  fifty  centuries,  as  now,  the  Alps  and  Himalaya  Mountains  have 
proved  insuperable  barriers  to  the  amalgamation  of  the  nations .  around 
their  bases  and  dwelling  in  the  valleys  which  radiate  from  their  slopes. 
The  continent  of  Africa,  as  far  as  we  know  the  details  of  its  surface,  is 
even  more  than  these  split  into  disjointed  fragments.  Such  also,  in  a  less 
degree,  is  South  America. 

Thus,  whilst  Northern  America  opens  towards  heaven  in  an  expanded 
bowl  to  receive  and  fuse  harmoniously  whatever  enters  within  its  rim :  so 
each  of  the  other  continents,  presenting  a  bowl  reversed,  scatters  every- 
thing from  a  central  apex  into  radiant  distraction.  Political  empires 
and  societies  have  in  all  ages  conformed  themselves  to  these  emphatic 
geographical  facts. 

The  American  Republic  is  then  predestined  to  expand  and  fit  itself  to 
the  continent.  Much  is  uncertain,  yet  through  all  the  vicissitudes  of  the 
future,  this  much  of  eternal  truth  is  discernible :  In  geography  the  an- 
tithesis of  the  Old  World,  in  society  it  is  and  will  be  the  reverse. 

North  America  will  rapidly  attain  to  a  population  equalling  that  of 
the  rest  of  the  world  combined :  forming  a  single  peojjle,  identical  in 
manners,  language,  customs,  and  impulses:  preserving  the  same  civiliza- 
tion, the  same  religion :  imbued  with  the  same  opinions,  and  having  the 
same  political  liberties. 

Of  this  we  have  two  illustrations  now  under  our  eye :  the  one  passing 
away,  the  other  advancing.  The  aboriginal  Indian  race,  among  whom, 
from  Darien  to  the  Esquimaux,  and  from  Florida  to  Vancouver's  Island, 
exists  a  great  identity  in  their  hair,  complexion,  features,  stature,  and 
language.  And  second,  in  the  instinctive  fusion  into  one  language,  and 
one  new  race,  of  immigrant  Germans,  English,  French,  and  Spanish,  whose 
individuality  is  obliterated  in  a  single  generation  ! 

It  is  thus  that  the  holy  question  of  our  Union  lies  in  the  bosom  of 
nature :  its  perpetuity  in  the  hearts  of  a  great  democratic  people,  imbued 
with  an  understanding  and  austere  reverence  for  her  eternal  promptings 
and  ordinances.  It  lies  not  in  the  trivial  temporalities  of  political  taxation, 
African  slavery,  local  power,  or  the  nostrums  of  orators  however  eminent. 
It  is  the  truth,  established  by  science,  and  not  the  deductions  of  meta- 
physics, with  which  the  people  must  fortify  themselves. 


184  APPEXDIX. 

As  power  resides  in  the  people  and  the  suffrage  is  its  exercise,  with 
tliem  also  must  reside  intelligent  and  wise  counsel.  To  be  certain  that 
the  great  principles  on  which  they  rely  to  strengthen  and  perpetuate 
human  rights,  are  the  truthful  deductions  of  exact  science,  and  in  harmony 
with  nature,  is  the  individual  duty  of  the  citizen.  To  reject  what  is 
otherwise,  is  the  only  safety  from  usurpation  and  tyranny. 

To  assert  that  the  mass  are  deficient  in  intelligence  to  comprehend  and 
use  familiarly  the  truth  of  science,  is  the  language  of  tyrants  and  perfectly 
false.  Behold  an  eternal  example  of  universal  dissemination  and  familiar 
use  of  scientific  trutJis. 

The  alphabet  of  twenty-six  letters  and  the  numerals  of  ten  figures  are 
the  most  profound,  condensed,  and  sublime  forms  of  abstract  truth  which 
science  has  or  can  give  to  the  human  race.  How  many  ages  and  how 
great  a  mass  of  intellectual  analysis  and  research  consumed  itself  to  reach 
this  abstract  quintessence  of  truth,  has  not  come  to  us  with  the  inventions 
themselves. 

At  sight  of  a  volume  printed,  or  a  newspaper,  the  intelligent  savage  is 
crushed  with  a  sense  of  despair,  not  knowing  that  a  few  years  of  study 
will  render  intelligible  to  him  this  mass  of  chaotic  mystery.  The  child  of 
civilized  society,  on  the  contrary,  commencing  with  the  alphabet  which 
science  has  discovered  and  bequeathed,  accepts  it  through  faith,  com- 
bines letters  into  syllables,  syllables  into  words,  words  into  sentences,  and 
has  opened  to  him,  by  an  easy  ascent,  the  knowledge  which  written  lan- 
guage has  accumulated  and  perpetuated  since  its  invention,  some  thousands 
of  years  ago. 

Believing  that  abstract  truth,  wherever  reached  in  other  departments 
of  human  affairs — as  for  instance  in  geography — may,  in  like  manner  as 
the  alphabet,  be  universally  received,  trusted,  and  used  by  the  people,  I 
have  written  these  remarks  and  constructed  the  map  which  accompanies 
them.  They  agree  with  the  speculations  of  the  scientific  writers  whom 
I  have  been  able  to  consult,  especially  Humboldt  and  Jefferson. 

If  this  abstract  of  simple  geographical  elements  be  truth,  then  should 
they  stand  the  basis  of  political  reason,  as  the  Ten  Commandments  stand 
in  the  field  of  religion.  Admitted  to  be  true,  the  future  of  the  Ameri- 
can Republic,  expanding  to  fit  the  continent,  as  the  human  foot  within 
a  shoe,  and  brightening  the  world  with  its  radiance,  is  familiarly  dis- 
cernible. 

The  general  continental gcograj/liy.  filling  up  the  details  of  its  surface, 
as  the  flesh  and  muscles  cover  the  human  skeleton,  will  readily  be  con- 
ceived in  the  mind,  and  assume  order  and  symmetry. 

Variety  of  climates  and  of  altitude  :  the  consecjucnt  distribution  oi'  iiidus- 


MEMORAXDA    ON    THE   PACIFIC  RAILROAD.  185 

try:  the  immense  commerce  which  will  iuljiist  the  interchanges  of  so  vast 
a  surface,  so  variously  occupied  :  the  union  by  public  works  of  the  fluvial 
arteries  descending  opposite  slopes :  the  connections  with  the  external 
continents  :  and  the  forms  of  States,  rising  consecutively  till  they  shall 
number  one  hundred  :  All  these  successive  events  become  the  current 
creations  of  a  natural  order  of  progress,  and  will  be  the  easy  deductions 
of  exact  calculation  of  time  from  statistical  data. 

To  come  finally  to  solve  the  question  of  the  construction  of  the  Pacific 
Railroad^  it  is  necessary  to  analyze  the  present  condition  of  commerce, 
both  of  our  own  and  external  countries :  how  far  it  is  friendly  or  hostile 
to  the  immense  modifications  such  a  new  route  will  engender :  to  probe 
the  temper  and  force  of  political  power  and  jealousies  :  to  reason  out  and 
balance  the  friendly  and  hostile  elements  that  bear  upon  it :  and  finally, 
to  subject  to  the  most  searching  scrutiny  the  topograpMcal  character  of 
the  immense  space  of  our  continent  interrupted  by  the  "  Plateau  of  the 
Table  Lands,"  the  great  mountain  ranges  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  and  the 
Andes,  with  their  external  slopes.  To  such  a  complete  discussion,  this  is 
preliminary. 


CHAPTEK    II. 


I  HAVE  mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapter,  in  which  I  endeavored  to 
delineate,  in  a  condensed  form,  the  abstract  geographical  elements  of  our 
continent,  that  I  had  compiled,  with  great  labor,  a  map,  exhibiting  to  the 
eye,  as  it  were  in  daguerreotype,  what  is  so  difiicult  to  make  comprehensi- 
ble in  writing  to  the  popular  mind. 

In  truth,  this  simple  classification  has  long  ago  suggested  itself  to  me, 
resulting  from  observations  made  and  facts  collected  during  immense  jour- 
neys, which  I  have  made  out  to  the  rim  of  the  continent,  on  all  its  coasts — 
sometimes  as  a  solitary  pioneer,  and  at  others  in  the  military  service. 
These  wanderings  have  extended  over  thirty  years  of  time,  and  more  than 
one  hundred  thousand  miles  ! 

Uncertain  as  to  the  accuracy  of  these  facts,  long  rendered  indistinct  and 
hazy  by  the  vastness  of  the  details — finding  myself  everywhere  repelled 
by  the  soi-disant  learned  in  science  and  politics ;  and  being,  also,  without 
the  pecuniary  means  to  reach  the  people,  it  is  only  now  that  I  venture 
to  appear  before  them.  Neither  do  I  rely  upon  my  own  reflections 
exclusively. 


186  APPENDIX. 

The  world  has  lately  received  from  the  learned  Humboldt  his  two  works, 
"  Cosmos"  and  "  The  Aspects  of  Nature."  This  pre-eminent  veteran  in 
science  commenced  sixty  years  ago  to  hive  and  condense  the  truths  that 
he  now  gives  us  in  these  small  volumes.  Nine  years  were  then  given  by 
him  to  exploration  and  study  among  the  Andes  of  South  America  and 
3fexico,  and  subsequently  ten  years  among  the  Himalayas  of  Central 
Asia.  It  is  only  now,  at  the  age  of  eighty  years,  that  he  ventures  to  give 
to  the  world  the  condensed  quintessence  of  a  whole  life  of  travel,  intense 
study,  rigid  analysis,  and  meditation. 

Though  not  clearly  known  to  him  (for  he  has  not  visited  our  country, 
or  been  able  to  collect  the  material,  to  supply  this  deficiency,  from  others), 
he  has,  in  his  delineations  of  Peru  and  Mexico,  exactly  sketched  our  own 
Andes  in  California  and  Oregon. 

His  descriptions  of  the  great  plateaux  of  Central  Asia,  the  Caspian 
Sea,  and  Thibet,  with  their  surrounding  mountain  chains,  applied  to  our 
continent,  solve  for  us  the  enigma  of  our  own  geography.  Indeed,  if  the 
continent  of  Asia  be  turned  at  right  angles,  so  that  Siberia  should  face 
the  rising  sun,  it  would  almost  exactly  resemble  and  explain  all  North 
America  included  between  the  trough  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  Pacific. 
In  short,  in  these  small  volumes — "  Notes  on  Virginia"  and  "  Cosmos" 
— of  the  brave  apostles  of  truth,  Jefferson  and  Humboldt, — in  these  we 
have  condensed  facts  enough  to  guide  us  to  the  most  distinct  and  perfect 
solution  of  the  whole  scheme  of  our  own  continental  geography. 

To  resume,  then,  the  discussion  oi  geographical  facts,  and  approach  cau- 
tiously, step  by  step,  the  location  made  by  nature  for  the  Continental 
Railroad,  we  must  have  clearly  in  the  mind  the  great  central  crest  of  the 
Sierra  Madre,  and  the  two  sides  of  the  continent  sloping  on  either 
hand  to  the  oceans.  Very  many  great  rivers,  bursting  from  the  eastern 
mountain  flank,  descend,  without  rapids,  by  the  Mississippi  to  the  Gulf; 
by  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  North  Atlantic.  Even  the  Alleghanies,  having 
but  2000  feet  elevation,  present  but  a  secondary  obstacle. 

Abundant  routes  exist,  therefore,  whereby  a  railroad  may  pass  up  from 
the  eastern  coast  line  of  the  continent  to  the  flanks  of  the  Sierra  Madre. 
Whatever  slight  elevations  may  exist  in  the  general  surface,  they  are  all 
perforated  successively  by  continuous  rivers,  whose  banks  offer  water- 
grades  uninterrupted  during  the  whole  ascent.  No  difficulty  here  presents 
itself. 

But  "  that  side  of  the  American  continent  which  may  be  defined  to 
front  Asia,  and  sheds  its  waters  in  that  direction,  has  these  four  charac- 
teristic divisions  :  the  maritime  front,  the  Andes,  the  Plateau  of  the 
Table  Lands,  and  the  Sierka  Madre  ;  all  extending  the  whole  length, 


MEMORANDA    ON   THE  PACIFIC  RAILROAD.  187 

from  south  to  north,  parallel  to  one  another,  and  covering,  in  the  aggre- 
gate, two-fifths  of  its  whole  area." 

The  maritime  front  is  narrow,  has  many  small  streams  in  which  the 
flowing  tide  reaches  the  base  of  the  Andes,  and  presents  no  obstacles  of 
any  significance.  Through  the  two  Cordilleras,  the  Andes,  and  the 
Sierra  Madre,  which  flank  and  elevate  themselves  above  the  level  of 
the  Table  Lands,  are  many  passes  admitting  of  the  passage  of  rail- 
roads, but  merely  from  the  outside  on  to  the  Table  Lands  within. 

The  Table  Lands  are,  however,  ribbed  by  latitudinal  ranges  of  moun- 
tains, of  immense  bulk  and  height.  The  solution,  therefore,  condenses 
itself  to  the  discovery  of  a  single  line,  whereby  the  Sierra  Madre,  the  ribs 
of  the  Table  Lands,  the  lofty  crest  of  the  Andes,  and  its  abrupt  western 
wall,  may  all  be  continuously  and  consecutively  overcome,  surmounted,  or 
evaded. 

I  quote  from  a  memoir  given  to  the  public  by  myself,  some  years  ago, 
this  description  of  the  Table  Lands : — 

The  distance  to  the  Pacific  from  the  top  of  the  Sierra  Madre  (Rocky 
Mountains),  where  you  leave  behind  the  waters  flowing  to  the  Atlantic, 
is  everywhere  some  1500  miles.  The  topographical  character  of  this 
ultramontane  region  is  very  grand  and  characteristic.  It  is  identical  with 
the  region  at  the  sources  of  the  La  Plata,  Amazon,  and  Magdalena,  of  South 
America,  but  more  immense. 

Sketched  by  its  great  outlines  it  is  simply  this  :  The  chain  of  the  Andes, 
debouching  north  from  the  Isthmus,  opens  like  the  letter  Y  into  two 
primary  chains  (Cordilleras).  On  the  right,  the  Sien-a  Madre,  trending 
along  the  coast  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  divides  the  Northern  Continent 
almost  centrally,  forming  an  unbroken  water-shed  to  Behring's  Strait.  On 
the  left,  the  Andes  follows  the  coast  of  the  Pacific,  warps  around  the  Gulf 
of  California,  and,  passing  along  the  coast  of  California  and  Oregon  (under 
the  name  of  Sierra  Nevada),  terminates  also  near  Behring's  Strait. 

The  immense  interval  between  these  chains  is  a  succession  of  iiitra- 
montane  basins,  seven  in  number,  and  ranging  from  south  to  north.  The 
whole  forms  the  great  Plateau  of  the  Table  Lands. 

First,  is  the  "  Basin  of  the  City  of  Mexico,"  receiving  the  interior 
drainage  of  both  Cordilleras,  which  waters,  having  no  outlet  to  either 
ocean,  are  dispersed  again  by  evajjoration. 

Second,  the  "  Bolson  de  Mapimi,"  collecting  into  the  Laguna  the 
streams  draining  many  States,  from  San  Luis  Potosi  to  Coahuila,  also 
without  any  outflow  to  either  ocean. 

Third,  the  "  Basin  of  the  Del  Norte,"  whose  vast  area  feeds  the  Rio 


188  APPENDIX. 

del  Norte,  the  Conchos,  aud  Pecos.  These,  concentrated  into  the  Rio 
Grande  del  Norte,  behind  the  Sierra  Madre,  have,  by  their  united  volume, 
burst  through  its  wall  and  found  an  outlet  towards  the  Atlantic.  The 
geological  character  of  this  basin,  its  altitude,  its  configuration  and  locality, 
all  assign  it  this  position,  as  distinguishing  it  from  all  others  contributing 
their  waters  to  the  Atlantic. 

Fourth,  the  "  Basin  of  the  Great  Colorado  of  the  West."  This  im- 
mense basin  embraces  above  the  great  rivers  Rio  Verde  and  Rio  Grande, 
whose  confluent  waters,  penetrating  the  mighty  Cordillera  of  the  Andes 
athwart,  from  base  to  base,  discharge  themselves  into  the  Gulf  of  Califor- 
nia. Into  this  sublime  gorge  {the  Canon  of  the  Colorado)  the  human 
eye  has  never  swept  for  an  interval  of  575  miles.  So  stern  a  character 
does  Nature  assume  where  such  stupendous  mountains  resist  the  passage 
of  such  mighty  rivers. 

Fifth,  the  "  Basin  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake,"  like  the  Caspian  of  Asia, 
containing  many  small  basins  within  one  great  rim,  and  losing  its  scattered 
waters  by  evaporation,  has  no  outflow  to  either  ocean. 

Sixth,  the  "Basin  of  the  Columbia,"  lying  across  the  northern  flanks 
of  the  two  last,  and  grand  above  them  all  in  position  and  configuration. 
Many  great  rivers,  besides  the  Snake  and  Upper  Columbia,  descend  from 
the  great  arc  of  the  Sierra  Madre,  where  it  circles  towards  the  northwest 
from  43°  to  52°,  flow  from  east  to  west  and  concentrate  above  the  Cas- 
cades into  a  single  trunk.  This  here  strikes  the  mighty  Cordillera  of  the 
Andes  (narrowed  to  one  ridge),  and  disgorges  itself  through  this  sublime 
pass  at  once  into  the  open  Pacific. 

It  is  Acre,  descending  by  the  grade  of  this  river  the  whole  distance  from 
the  rim  of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  and  through  the  Andes  to  the 
Pacific,  that  the  great  debouch  of  the  American  Continent  towards  the 
West  is  found ;  and  here  will  be  the  pathway  of  future  generations  of  the 
New  World,  as  the  people  of  the  Old  World  pass  down  the  Mediterranean 
and  out  by  Gibraltar. 

Above,  the  "  Basin  of  Frazer  River"  forms  a  seventh  of  the  Table 
Lands.  This  has  burst  a  caiion  through  the  Andes,  and,  like  the  fourth 
and  sixth  basins,  sends  its  waters  to  the  Pacific.  With  the  geography  of 
the  more  northern  region  we  are  imperfectly  acquainted,  knowing,  how- 
ever, that  from  Puget  Sound  to  Bchring's  Strait  the  wall  of  the  Andes 
forms  the  beach  itself  of  the  Pacific,  whilst  the  Sierra  Madre  forms  the 
western  rim  of  the  basins  of  the  Saskatchewan  of  Hudson  Bay,  and  the 
Athabasca  of  the  Arctic  Seas. 

Thus,  then,  briefly  we  arrive  at  this  great  cardinal  department  of  the 
geography  of  the  continent,  viz.  :  the  Table  Lands, — being  a  lon-itiuli- 


MEMORANDA    ON   THE   PACIFIC  JiAILROAD.  189 

nal  section  (about  two-seveuths  of  its  whole  area),  intermediate  between 
the  two  oceans,  but  walled  off  from  both,  and  having  but  fJiree  outlets 
for  its  waters,  viz. :  the  caiions  of  the  llio  Grande,  the  Colorado,  and  the 
Columbia.  Columnar  basalt  forms  the  basement  of  this  whole  rea'ion, 
and  volcanic  action  is  everywhere  prominent. 

Its  general  level,  ascertained  upon  the  lakes  of  the  different  basins,  is 
about  0000  feet  above  the  sea.  Rain  seldom  falls,  and  timber  is  rare.  The 
ranges  of  mountains  which  separate  the  basins  are  often  rugged,  and  capped 
with  perpetual  snow,  whilst  isolated  masses  of  great  height  elevate  them- 
selves from  the  plains.  This  whole  formation  abounds  in  the  precious 
metals.     Such  is  the  region  of  the  Table  Lands. 

Beyond  these  is  the  Pacific  maritime  region.  The  great  wall  of  the 
Andes,  receding  from  the  beach  of  the  Pacific,  leaves  between  itself  and 
the  sea  a  half  valley,  as  it  were,  forming  the  seaboard  slope  from  San 
Diego  to  the  Straits  of  Juan  de  Fuca.  This  is  1200  miles  in  length,  and 
200  broad.  Across  it  descend  to  the  sea  a  series  of  fine  rivers,  rano-ing: 
from  sonth  to  north,  like  the  little  streams  descending  from  the  Allegha- 
nies  to  the  Atlantic.  These  are  the  San  Gabriel,  the  Buenaventura,  the 
San  Joachim  and  Sacramento,  the  Rogue,  Tlameth,  and  Umqua  Rivers : 
the  Wallamette  and  Columbia,  the  Cowlitz,  Chekalis,  and  Nasqually,  of 
Puget  Sound. 

This  resembles  and  balances  the  maritime  slope  of  the  Atlantic  side  of 
the  continent ;  but  it  is  vastly  larger  superficially  ;  of  the  highest  agricul- 
tural excellence ;  basaltic  in  formation ;  grand  beyond  the  powers  of 
description.  The  snowy  points  and  volcanoes  of  the  Andes  are  every- 
where visible  from  the  sea;  whilst  its  climate  is  entirely  exempt  from  the 
frosts  of  winter. 

The  configuration  of  the  Sierra  Madre  (the  Mother  Mountain  of  the 
world)  is  transcendently  massive  and  sublime.  Rising  from  a  basement 
whose  roots  spread  out  2000  miles  and  more,  its  crest  splits  almost  cen- 
trally the  JVorthern  Continent,  and  divides  its  waters  to  the  two  oceans. 

Novel  terms  have  been  introduced  to  define  its  characteristics.  Mesa, 
expresses  the  level  plateaux  of  its  summits.  Canon,  the  gorges  rent  in 
its  slopes  by  the  descending  rivers.  Bute,  the  conical  mountains  isolated 
and  trimmed  into  symmetrical  peaks  by  atmospheric  corrosion. 

Everybody  has  seen  the  card-houses  built  by  children  in  the  nursery. 
Suppose  three  of  these  in  a  row,  having  a  second  story  over  the  centre  : 
this  toy  fan»iliarly  delineates  a  transverse  section  of  the  Sierra  Madre. 
The  top  of  this  upper  story  represents  the  central  primary  mesa  of  the 
Cordillera — its  summit  a  great  plain,  descending  on  both  flanks  by  a  per- 
pendicular wall  of  6000  feet  to  the  level  of  the  second  mesa,  or  steppe. 


190  APPEXDIX. 

Towards  the  west  the  second  mesa  fills  the  wliole  space  to  the  Andes, 
whose  farther  side  descends  abruptly  to  the  tide-level  of  the  Pacific.  This 
is  again  what  has  been  before  described  at  length  as  the  Great  Table 
Lands. 

But  towards  the  east  the  sccohcZ  mesa  forms  a  piedmont,  rent  into  peaks 
by  the  fissures  of  innumerable  streams.  This  piedmont,  called  by  us  the 
Black  Hills,  masks  the  front  of  the  Sierra  Madre  from  end  to  end.  So 
completely  is  it  torn  and  rent  by  the  perplexity  of  water-courses,  that 
patches  alone  are  left  to  define  the  original  plateau.  These  are  the  east- 
ern envelope  of  the  basin  of  the  Yellowstone,  the  Laramie  Plain  (between 
the  Plattes),  the  Ratone  and  the  Llano  Estacado  of  Texas.  Beneath  this 
the  third  mesa  (or  steppe)  is  that  superlative  region,  the  Great  Prairie 
Plains,  whose  gentle  slope  forms  a  glacis  to  the  Gulf  through  Texas,  and 
in  front  to  the  trough  formed  by  the  Mississippi  River  from  Itasca  Lake 
to  the  Balize. 

It  is  this  vastness  of  geographical  configuration  which  leads  the  glance 
of  the  engineer  with  unerring  certainty  to  that  line  of  natural  grades 
from  ocean  to  ocean,  the  discovery  of  which  mankind  now  awaits  with 
the  keenest  interest,  and  along  which  the  American  nation  is  resolved  to 
construct  the  consummate  work  of  art — the  Asiatic  and  European 
Railway. 

Advancing  north  along  the  covih  of  the  Sierra  Madre  from  below 
Mexico,  you  find  at  the  sources  of  the  Platte  (Sweetwater)  a  wide  gap, 
where,  the  high  mesa  suddenly  giving  out  for  the  space  of  forty  miles,  the 
second  mesa  passes  through  from  east  to  west,  the  continued  water-ridge 
being  scarcely  perceptible  among  its  gentle  undulations.  This  is  the 
"South  Pass." 

It  is  so  named  as  being  the  most  southern  pass  to  which  you  may  ascend 
by  an  afiluent  of  the  Atlantic,  and  step  immediately  over,  to  a  stream  de- 
scending directly  to  the  Pacific.  This  name  is  as  ancient  as  the  pass 
itself.  Into  it  concentrate  the  great  trails  of  the  buffalo,  geographers 
and  road-makers  by  instinct,  before  the  coming  of  man. 

The  Indian,  the  Mexican,  and  the  American,  successors  of  one  another, 
haA'e  not  improved  or  deflected  from  the  instincts  of  the  buffalo,  nor  will 
they,  whilst  the  mountains  last  in  their  present  unshattercd  bulk.  The 
South  Pass  has  a  towering  grandeur,  in  keeping  with  the  rivers  between 
which  it  is  the  avenue  (the  Missouri,  the  Colorado,  and  the  Columbia),  all 
of  which,  issuing  from  the  wall  of  the  Wind  River  Mountain,  come  out 
of  it  upon  the  second  mesa,  at  the  same  level,  and  into  which  they  imme- 
diately commence  burrowing  their  canons  of  descent  to  the  seas. 

Here,  then,  is  the  route,  the  southern  route,  of  the  National  Railroad. 


MEMORANDA    ON    THE  PACIFIC  RAILROAD.  IQl 

ascending  by  the  water-grade  of  the  Platte  to  the  top  of  the  second  mesa, 
where  it  forms  the  summit,  following  the  level  of  this  mesa  along  the  base 
of  the  high  mesa,  to  the  Columbia  (Snake  River),  and  descending  its 
water-grade  clear  to  the  Pacific. 

The  distance  from  the  Platte  to  the  Columbia  has  not  been  accurately 
ascertained,  though  by  the  present  wagon-road,  which  crosses  a  corner  of 
the  Salt  Basin,  it  is  less  than  300  miles.  Here  is  that  double-inclined 
plane,  to  find  which  has  been  the  first  essential  in  every  line  of  transpor- 
tation existing  in  the  world.  There  is  none  south  of  this,  because  every- 
where the  basins  of  the  Table  Lands  overlap  and  envelop  one  another, 
so  that  the  passes  lead  merely  from  one  of  these  into  another ;  nor  are 
there  any  natural  tunnels  through  the  precipitous  walls  of  the  Andes,  and 
between  the  basins. 

The  Columbia,  running  across  the  Table  Lands  from  east  to  west,  dis- 
tributes the  descent  of  8500  feet  equally  along  its  course  of  1200  miles, 
and  tunnels  the  great  ranges  of  Blue  Mountains  and  the  Andes.  This 
whole  course  of  the  river  is  a  continuity  of  rapids,  having  three  falls,  the 
American  Falls  of  thirty  feet  at  Portneuf,  the  Salmon  Falls  of  forty-five 
feet,  200  miles  below,  and  the  Chuttes  of  twelve  feet,  near  the  Dalles. 
This  river-grade  is  then  as  rapid  as  the  descent  to  be  accomplished  will 
admit  of;  for,  distributed  into  long  levels  and  steep  grades,  it  would 
immensely  impair  the  utility  of  the  whole  work,  and  fatally  impede 
transportation. 

The  great  Colorado  runs  diagonally  across  the  Table  Lands,  dehouch- 
ing  into  the  Gulf  of  California ;  but  has  its  course  and  those  of  its  great 
aiBuents  parallel  with  the  mountain  ranges,  which  are  scored  with  un- 
fathomed  canons,  perplexing  the  traveller  with  an  infinity  of  impassable 
ridges,  among  which  the  water-courses  are  embowelled. 

Here  is  that  immense  and  complex  labyrinth  of  mountain  ribs,  whose 
great  height  and  arid  character  have  heretofore  defied  every  efibit  to 
explore  or  penetrate.  Its  impenetrability  cannot  be  made  to  yield  to  art, 
in  a  direct  line,  owing  to  the  whole  space  from  the  Sierra  Madre  to  the 
Pacific,  bristling  with  parallel  ribs  of  snowy  mountains. 

The  rivers  penetrate  these  diagonally,  and  are  sunk  in  cailons,  burrowed 
deep  into  their  roots.  North  of  the  South  Pass,  however,  exist  many 
single  passes,  where  the  higher  branches  of  the  Missouri  and  Columbia 
interlock.  These  circuitous  routes  have  all  the  same  termini  as  that  of  the 
South  Pass,  for  they  also  descend  the  same  two  rivers  to  the  seas. 

Thus  between  the  South  Pass  and  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuan tepee  there 
exists  no  straight  railroad  route,  owing  to  the  longitudinal  courses  of  the 
rivers,  the  complexity  of  the  basins,  and  the  double  barrier  of  primary 


192  APPEXDIX. 

mountain  chains.  To  the  nortli,  other  passes  exist,  which  future  genera- 
tions may  develop,  and  on  which  navigation  may  be  used  for  four-fifths  of 
the  whole  distance. 

True  it  is  that  potential  fashion  now  exalts  the  maritime  basin  of  Cali- 
fornia, San  Francisco  Bay,  into  the  haven  of  hope  and  fortune  of  the  new 
seaboard,  whilst  the  sublime  basin  of  the  Columbia  and  its  magnificent 
river  harbors  are  banished  from  public  favor.  The  basin  of  San  Fran- 
cisco is  small,  and  an  isolated  spot  to  reach  from  the  interior.  No  great 
river  gives  it  access  to  the  Mississippi  Valley,  from  which  it  is  cut  ofi"  by 
the  basins  of  the  Salt  Lake,  the  Colorado,  and  the  Del  Norte,  overlapping 
each  other. 

The  Columbia  is  larger  than  the  Danube,  and  equal  to  the  Ganges.  In 
size,  climate,  agricultural  excellence,  capacity  for  population,  and  its  won- 
derful circular  configuration,  the  basin  of  the  Columbia  surpasses  both  of 
these  others.  The  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  a  salient  point  upon  the  open 
coast,  more  than  any  other  central  and  convenient  to  the  whole  North 
Pacific  and  Asia,  is,  in  size,  depth  of  water,  safety,  and  facility  of  ingress 
or  egress,  ecjual  to  San  Francisco.  As  the  mouth  of  the  greatest  river 
descending  from  our  continent  into  the  Pacific,  it  is  perhaps  more  valuable. 
It  is  eight  degrees  south  of  Liverpool,  having  the  climate  of  Bordeaux, 
Marseilles,  or  Savannah. 

Why  is  not  the  deep  sea  navigation  concentrated  at  Norfolk^  on  Hamp- 
ton Roads,  the  finest  harbor  of  the  whole  Atlantic  ?  Why,  rather,  is  it 
found  at  New  York  and  New  Orleans,  accessible  only  through  every  dan- 
ger that  can  menace  shipping  ?  Why,  because  the  former  is  the  outlet 
of  the  basin  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  latter  of  the  Mississippi.  The  ship- 
ping of  commerce  goes  to  where  cargoes  can  be  found. 

Less  than  fifty  years  ago,  fashion  pronounced  the  little  ravines  of  James 
River  and  the  Connecticut  the  proud  spots  of  America,  and  held  the  great 
uninhabitable  wastes  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  iinnavigated  streams  as 
worthy  only  to  balance  codfish  ! 

This  same  splenetic  spirit  of /a.s7ii'Q/i  now  manufactures  a  similarly  ridic- 
ulous misdirection  for  the  energy  of  the  pioneers,  by  setting  up  what  the 
geologist  would  call  a  "  pot-hole  of  the  Andes,"  against  the  grand  Colum- 
bia. Commerce,  provident  like  every  other  department  of  industry,  makes 
herself  harbors  with  charts,  pilots,  buoys,  and  beacons.  The  shallowest 
channel  of  the  Columbia  has  thirty-five  feet  of  water — the  deepest  of  New 
York  twenty- nine. 

Thus  does  Nature,  piously  appealed  to,  and  calmly  consulted,  exhaust, 
bring  to  a  close,  and  settle,  by  eternal  facts,  the  various  opinions  which 


MEMORANDA    ON   THE  PACIFIC  RAILROAD.  193 

perplex  the  public  mind  in  locating  the  continental  railroad.  The  national 
will  must  wisely  listen  to  and  obey  her  promptings.  Postponement,  defeat, 
and  failure  will  overwhelm  every  effort  to  depart  from  the  water-grade, 
or  to  penetrate,  perforate,  or  surmount  in  any  other  way  the  Titanic  rigidity 
of  the  table  lands. 

The  obstinate  advocacy  of  any  other  route  is  insidious  and  hostile  in 
the  lump  to  the  work  entirely.  The  water-grade  of  the  continent  is  simply 
this  : — The  road,  leaving  the  west  bank  of  the  ^lissouri,  pursues  the  Platte 
River  along  the  facile  ascent  of  its  south  bank  to  the  South  Pass ;  this 
is  some  750  miles :  thence  along  the  smooth  level  of  the  South  Pass,  250 
miles  to  Snake  River :  thence  down  the  focile  descent  of  Snake  River  to 
the  Columbia,  900  miles.  This  route  is  the  shortest  and  best  across 
America ;  it  is,  in  practical  fact,  a  level  from  end  to  end ;  the  grading  is 
complete  throughout ;  the  mountains  are  all  tunnelled ;  the  climate  dry 
and  propitious. 

There  remain  to  be  described  the  peculiarities  of  climate,  and  the  bear- 
ing upon  our  subject  of  the  immense  interests  of  ocean  commerce  and 
political  power. 


CHAPTER    III. 


In  two  former  chapters  I  have  endeavored  to  grasp  the  geographical 
view  of  the  continental  railway — to  winnow  its  immense  com- 
plexity— to  shake  loose  a  few  simple  yac^s  engorged  in  obscurity — and  to 
stand  face  to  face  and  in  council  with  Nature. 

We  have  seen  that  Nature,  thus  candidly  appealed  to,  leads  us  point 
blank  to  the  supreme  pass  of  the  continent,  the  South  Pass,  and  thence 
traces  with  her  unerring  finger  to  the  right,  and  to  the  left,  the  double 
water-grade  to  the  seas — by  the  Platte  to  the  Atlantic,  by  the  Snake 
River  to  the  Pacific. 

But  public  opinion  is  perplexed  by  a  systematic  obscuration  of  facts, 
long  and  vehemently  repeated,  in  other  things  besides  geography.  This 
route  is  pronounced  northern ;  the  climate  hostile ;  accumulated  snows 
are  insisted  upon  ;  the  Indians  impracticable ;  the  work  itself  herculean  ; 
population,  provisions,  material  to  build,  and  work  for  the  road,  wanting ; 
the  length  of  the  road  is  pronounced  insuperable,  and  its  cost  enormous. 
These  objections  all  fall  absolutely  before  a  few /oc^s  of  nature,  here  emi- 
nently clear  and  emphatic.     Let  us  appeal  to  them  and  decide ! 

13 


194  APPENDIX. 

Climate  controls  the  migrations  of  the  Imnian  race,  which  have 
steadily  adhered  to  an  "  isothermal  zodiac^''  or  belt  of  equal  warmth, 
around  the  world.  The  extremely  mild  temperature  of  our  western  sea- 
board is  the  consequence  of  the  same  great  laws  of  nature  which  operate 
in  Western  Europe.  These  are  the  regular  and  fixed  ordinances  of  the 
code  of  nature,  to  which  the  migrations  of  man,  in  common  with  the 
animals,  yield  an  instinctive  obedience. 

Within  the  torrid  zone  of  the  globe,  from  the  equator  to  the  28th 
degree  of  north  latitude,  blow  the  trade  tcinds  and  v(rn'ahles,  always  from 
the  east  and  northeast,  all  round  the  world.  But  in  the  succeeding  belt 
from  28°  to  60°,  the  winds  have  an  opposite  or  compensating  direction, 
from  the  west  and  southwest,  all  round  the  globe. 

These  latter  wind-currents  reach  the  western  coasts  of  America  and 
Europe  after  traversing  the  expanse  of  the  Pacific  and  Atlantic  Oceans. 
Warmed  to  the  temperature  of  these  oceans,  they  impart  again  this  same 
mild  atmosphere  to  the  maritime  fronts  of  the  continents  which  receive 
them.  These  same  winds,  passing  onward  over  great  extensions  of  con- 
tinent of  low  temperature,  covered  with  snow  or  frozen  during  winter : 
often  warped  upwards  by  mountain  ranges,  becoming  exhausted  of  their 
warmth,  have,  upon  the  eastern  expansions  of  the  continents,  an  exactly 
opposite  effect  upon  the  climate. 

Hence  the  variant  temperature  of  New  York,  and  Lisbon,  in  Portugal, 
which  face  one  another,  on  opposite  sides  of  the  Atlantic — of  San  Fran- 
cisco, and  Pekin,  in  China,  similarly  opposite,  upon  the  Pacific. 

At  San  Francisco  and  at  Lisbon,  the  seasons  are  but  modulations  of  one 
continuous  summer.  At  New  York  and  at  Pekin,  winter  annually  sus- 
pends vegetation  during  seven  months,  whilst  ice  and  snow  bind  up  the 
land  and  waters.  These  four  cities  are  all  close  upon  the  same  parallel 
of  latitude,  the  fortieth  degree  north. 

Thus  is  it  manifest  why  in  Asia  the  mass  of  population  is  congre- 
gated on  and  south  oi  tho.  fortieth  degree,  and  in  Europe  north  of  it.  In 
America  it  again  curves  to  the  south  on  the  eastern  face  of  our  continent, 
to-i'ise  northward  again  on  the  warm  Pacific  coast.  Within  this  undu- 
lating belt  of  the  north  temperate  zone,  in  breadth  about  thirty-three  de- 
grees, are  included  I'our-fiiths  of  all  the  land  and  nine-tenths  of  the  world's 
population. 

Here  has  been  the  progressive  march  of  the  human  race  round  the 
world,  commencing  in  the  farthest  Orient,  and  forming  a  zodiac  of  nations 
towards  the  setting  sun.  In  this  have  been  retained  similar  tastes,  simi- 
lar industrial  pursuits,  similar  food  and  clothing,  requiring  similarity  of 
fliniatc.  and  reciiiliii'i'  alike  iVnm  the  Innid  and  from  the  arctic  zones. 


MEMORANDA    ON   THE  PACIFIC  llAILROAD.  195 

If,  then,  the  mind  retains  the  simple  facts,  that  all  our  present  terri- 
tory between  the  oceans  lies  within  this  zone,  where  the  winds  flow  always 
from  the  west,  we  arrive  at  the  solution,  as  well  of  the  different  modifica- 
tions of  climate  along  the  same  pai'allel  of  latitude,  as  of  the  variety  in  the 
vegetable  covering  of  the  surface : — why  the  eastern  portion  is  clothed 
with  dense  forests,  the  central  portion  with  prairie  grasses  only,  and  why 
the  great  fertile  plains  of  the  high  mountains  and  of  the  Table  Lands  are 
yet  of  an  arid  hardness  and  naked  of  all  arhorescence. 

The  amount  of  irrigating  rains  falling  upon  the  face  of  the  land  from 
the  clouds^  regulates  this.  The  oceans  are  the  reservoirs  which  supply  clouds 
to  the  atmosphere.  The  vapors,  rising  from  the  whole  surface  of  the 
ocean  into  the  higher  regions  of  the  atmosphere,  form  themselves,  at  a  cold 
elevation,  into  natural  balloons,  or  clouds. 

These,  carried  by  currents  of  air  over  the  land,  and  rising  still  higher, 
become  condensed  and  distil  themselves  upon  the  earth  in  the  form  of 
rain.  Those  holding  vapor  in  the  form  least  concentrated,  spill  it  out  in 
the  regions  near  the  sea.  Others  attain  to  a  high  degree  of  concentra- 
tion, retaining  the  form  of  clouds  until  they  reach  the  central  regions  of 
the  continents  and  a  great  elevation. 

But  we  have  seen  that  the  great  snotvy  Cordillera  of  the  Andes  lines 
the  whole  western  seaboard  of  North  America,  being  in  sight  of  vessels 
sailing  up  the  sea,  from  the  Gulf  of  California  to  Behring's  Strait.  The 
winds  coming  from  the  tvest  and  over  the  ocean,  blow  against  this  wall. 
On  this  elevated  summit  of  perpetual  congelation,  water  becomes  ice,  as 
solid  and  permanent  as  the  cold  lava-rock.  The  irrigating  influence  of 
the  Pacific  Ocean  is  here  abruptly  stopped  and  entirely  ceases. 

The  great  eastern  slope  of  our  continent,  however,  descending  by  gentle 
inclined  ^ilanes  to  all  the  seas,  receives,  without  any  geographical  inter- 
ruption, the  irrigating  winds  and  clouds  of  those  seas.  The  barrier  of  the 
Alleghanies  diminishes,  but  does  not  stop,  the  inflowing  of  vapors.  But  we 
have  seen  that  the  winds  blow  perpetually  //-ojn  the  west.  The  inward 
progress,  then,  of  the  atmospheric  vapors  is  by  this  continually  repelled. 

The  vegetation  of  the  continent  reveals  to  us  the  result  of  this  conflict 
between  winds  and  the  gradual  exhaustion  of  the  atmospheric  vapors, 
with  an  exactness  as  complete  as  that  with  which  the  thermometer  indi- 
cates temperature. 

The  maritime  declivity,  the  Alleghanies,  and  the  countries  between  the 
latter  and  the  troughs  of  the  Mississippi  and  St.  Lawrence,  are  densely  clad 
with  timber.  So  are  the  States  of  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  and  South  Missouri ; 
receiving  clouds  from  the  Gulf  partly,  and  partly  from  the  Atlantic.  West- 
ward and  northward  the  timber  gradually  tapers  away  ;  still  following  in 


19G  API' EX  I)  IX. 

uarrow  lines  alung  the  rivers,  but  leuviiig  the  uphiuds  aud  ridges  to  the 
luxuriant  prairie  grasses.  Soon,  however,  the  timber  abandons  its  strug- 
gle to  grow,  aud  ceases  entirely. 

0/iicard,  however,  from  the  last  fringe  of  timber,  for  some  hundred 
miles,  the  irrigation  continues  to  preserve  the  mellowness  of  the  soil, 
and  a  sward  of  tall,  luxuriant  grasses  covers  the  whole  smooth  expanse  of 
nature.  This,  in  turn,  gradually  dwarfs  under  the  decreasing  irrigation, 
tapering  into  the  delicate  curled  grass  of  the  buffalo  plains,  which  is  scarce 
half  an  inch  in  height,  and  resembles  the  wool  of  a  lamb. 

Finally^  grass  itself  fails,  and  the  general  characteristic  of  the  surface 
of  the  great  Sierra  Madre  and  the  plateau  of  the  Table  Lands  is  total 
nakedness  of  any  nutritious  vegetable  covering.  The  soil  is  either  com- 
pactly hard,  or  resembles  dry  ashes.  The  surface  is  here  sparsely  clothed 
with  dwarfed  wormwood  and  the  prickly  pear, — funereal  plants,  which 
seem  as  careless  of  moisture  a.s  is  the  .salamander  of  fire. 

Such  are  the  great  primary  laws  of  Nature  which  decide  the  climate 
and  vegetation  of  our  continent.  Interruptions  and  modifications  of  these 
laws  are  innumerable.  Kature  is  everyivliere  icise.  Compensations  exist 
in  all  these  countries,  so  eccentrically  novel  to  us,  which  will  win  for  them 
the  densest  populations.  No  deserts  of  silicious  sand,  like  those  of  Arabia 
and  Africa,  exist  in  America,  nor  are  such  possible.  The  only  formation 
of  silicious  sand  is  the  Atlantic  declivity,  whose  soil  soon  wastes  under 
culture  ;   and  the  ocean  washes  this. 

The  great  bowl  made  up  of  the  basins  of  the  interior  is  everywhere 
calcareous.  The  soil  which  covers  the  two  gre;it  Cordilleras,  the  Table 
Lands  and  the  Pacific  declivity,  is  the  intrinsically  fertile  decay  of  basaltic 
and  lava  formations.  Thirst  alone  causes  its  nakedness  and  apparent 
aridity.  Where  this  thirst  is  quenched  with  a  frugal  supply  of  water,  it 
shows  an  abundant  and  inexhaustible  fertility.  Great  rivers  are  every- 
wliere  full  and  convenient. 

Thus  are  all  the  successive  varieties  of  climate,  vegetation,  and  soil 
explained  Vjy  the  gradual  attenuation  of  the  rains,  as  we  recede  from  the 
ocean.  Vice  versa,  these  conditions  of  the  atmosphere  and  land  attest 
the  absence  of  vapor  in  the  former.  All  secondary  phenomena,  such  as 
the  annual  fires  of  the  great  prairies  of  long  grass,  are  consequences  of 
the  aridity  of  the  autumnal  and  winter  atmosphere,  and  not  causes  of  the 
ab.sence  of  timber. 

Again,  the  elevation  of  the  plain  of  the  Sou/Ii  Puss  is  7800  feet  above 
the  sea.  The  streams  which  collect  and  carry  off  its  waters — Sweetwater 
to  the  east  and  Sandy  to  the  west — are  only  large  rirulcfs,  though  their 
courses  are  lonj:;.     The  amount  of  rain   in   suninier  and  snoiv  in  winter 


MEMOHAXDA    ON   THE   PACIFIC  RAILROAD.  1«J7 

upon  the  water-grade  of  the  Platte  and  Snake  Rivers,  and  in  the  South 
Pass  between  them,  is  so  insignificant  as  to  bear  no  comparison  in  amount 
with  those  between  Boston  and  Buffalo  ! 

But  the  stupendous  masses  of  the  Wind  Biver  JMountains  rise  in  the 
northern  horizon  of  the  South  Pass  to  an  altitude  of  14,000  feet.  Their 
great  elevation  draws  down  the  vapors  left  in  the  atmosphere,  which 
clothe  their  summits  with  perpetual,  and  their  flanks  with  winter  snows. 

These  supply  waters  to  the  great  rivers,  and  cover  the  flanks  and  gorges 
of  the  great  mountains  with  immense  forests.  The  same  is  the  case 
elsewhere  with  the  great  'prhnarjj  mountain  chains,  such  as  the  Utah  or 
Wasatch  and  the  Salmon  River  Mountains.  But  the  secondary  moun- 
tains and  passes  are  entirely  naked  of  timber,  having  upon  them  neither 
rains  nor  snows  at  any  season. 

But  an  extraordinary  fact  here  develops  itself.  If  from  the  point 
where  the  junction  of  several  small  streams  forms  the  Kansas  River,  120 
miles  due  west  from  the  Missouri  River,  as  a  centre,  a  circle  be  described 
touching  the  boundary  line  of  49°  as  a  tangent,  the  oi^posite  side 
of  the  circle  will  pass  through  the  seaport  of  Matagorda  in  Texas, 
through  New  Orleans  and  Mobile.  This  point  is,  therefore,  the  centre, 
north  and  south,  of  our  country.  If  from  the  same  centre  a  larger  circle 
be  described,  it  will  pass  through  San  Francisco,  and  through  Vancouver 
City,  on  the  Columbia,  exactly  grazing  the  whole  coast  between  them. 
The  same  circle  will  pass  through  Quebec  and  Boston  on  the  Atlantic, 
through  Havana  on  the  Gulf,  and  through  the  city  of  Mexico.  The  same 
point  is  then  the  centre  between  the  oceans. 

Thus,  at  the  forks  of  the  Kansas  River  a  point  exists,  in  latitude  38° 
45',  and  longitude  97°  west  of  Greenwich,  which  is  the  Geographical 
Centre — north  and  south,  east  and  west — at  once  of  our  whole  national 
territory,  of  the  basin  of  the  Mississippi,  and  of  the  continent  of  North 
x\merica ! 

The  yac^s,  then,  which  concentrate  themselves  to  locate  the  Continental 
Railway  at  the  line  of  water-grades  from  ocean  to  ocean,  sum  themselves 
up  conclusively  in  its  favor  and  against  all  others. 

From  Baltimore  and  New  York,  through  St.  Loixis  to  Kansas,  this 
road  is  now  under  contract  and  construction.  For  this  distance  the  route 
traverses  a  country  guttered  with  rivers :  interrupted  by  the  narrow  and 
abrupt  ribs  of  the  Alleghany  chain  :  covered  with  timber:  having  a  fitful 
climate  vexed  with  immense  rains  and  snows :  the  surface  infinitely  chan- 
nelled with  water-courses  and  perplexed  with  innumerable  ravines,  alter- 
nating with  steep  and  narrow  hills. 

Yet  this  half  of  the  whole  road  progresses  over  all  these  difficulties 


198  APPENDIX. 

with  sueli  ease  aud  celerit}-,  that  argument  of  its  impracticability  is  not 
tolerated.  But  against  the  remaining  half  of  the  road,  from  Kansas  to 
Astoria,  these  arguments  are  tolerated,  though  in  truth  they  have  all  ceased, 
aud  such  obstructions  and  impediments  have  no  existence  in  niitura. 

The  remaining  lialf  from  Kansas  to  Astoria  crosses  no  river  of  any 
magnitude,  yet  pursues  the  banks  of  great  rivers  continuously  the  whole 
distance.  The  banks  of  these  rivers,  rising  but  a  few  feet  above  the 
water  surface,  are  of  immense  width,  perfectly  hard  and  dry,  and  smooth 
as  a  water  level.  Such  is  the  general  characteristic  of  the  Platte  aud 
Columbia  from  end  to  end. 

The  plain  of  the  S(juth  Pass  is  almost  as  smooth  and  hard  as  a  marble 
pavement,  and  is  of  a  general  breadth  exceeding  thirty  miles.  Not  a 
single  eminence  exists  in  the  whole  distance  but  is  tunnelled  by  these 
rivers  down  to  the  general  grade.  On  the  track  everywhere  is  material 
in  every  variety  of  form  and  in  the  sublimest  abundance. 

Lumber  exists  in  abundance  in  the  high  mountains  to  the  right  and 
left.  Iron  can  be  supplied  at  the  ends  and  upon  the  navigable  rivers, 
brought  from  Europe  if  necessary,  as  it  now  comes  for  nearly  all  the  rail- 
roads in  America.  Mineral  coal  is  abundant  from  end  to  end.  Rock  in 
every  variety — granite,  basalt,  lava,  limestone,  and  gypsum.  The  Platte 
perforates  a  great  range  of  mountains  of  gypsum  ;  the  Snake  River  a 
less  one  of  rock-salt. 

This  route  is  not  northern,  but  exactly  central.  The  sublime  order 
and  fitness  of  Nature  seems  here  pre-eminently  to  vindicate  and  exemplify 
itself  Upon  the  Kansas  River  it  plumbs  the  geographical  centre  of  the 
national  territory.  From  hence  it  curves  northward  to  Baltimore,  the 
most  southern  Atlantic  city  of  great  commercial  activity.  It  curves 
gently  to  the  northward  to  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia.  This  is  in  lati- 
tude 46°  19',  being  three  degrees  south  of  Havre  in  France,  and  eight 
degrees  south  of  Liverpool  and  Amsterdam. 

Yet  the  climate  of  Western  America  is  milder  than  that  of  Western 
Europe.  It  is  also  upon  the  coasts  extending  fifteen  degrees  north  of  the 
Columbia  that  the  marine  of  the  Pacific  will  be  constructed,  as  here  are 
combined  the  conveniences  of  sea-harbors  and  forests.  It  is  in  the  Baltic 
and  British  Isles  that  all  the  marine  of  Europe  is  built  and  owned.  It  is 
likewise  on  the  St.  Lawrence  and  in  New  England  that  the  marine  of 
America  is  constructed  and  owned. 

To  speak  of  the  obstructimi  oi"  Inillans  ujion  tlie  route  is  a  monstrous 
hvrlcsipic.  The  whole  aggregate  number  of  men,  women,  and  children, 
within  .several  hundred  miles  along  the  flanks  of  this  route,  does  not 
amount  to  nine  thousand,  or  one-fifth  of  the  p(i]mlati()n  uf  Wa.-<hington 


MEMORANDA    ON   THE  PACIFIC  RAILROAD.  199 

City !  The  most  moderate  pay  would  make  of  them  valuable  herders  of 
stock,  and  hunters.  The  pastures  now  maintain  meat  upon  the  hoof,  or 
buiFalo,  to  the  amount  of  many  millions.  A  hundred  millions  of  tame 
cattle  will  maintain  themselves  in  the  buffalo  country,  fat  in  condition 
round  the  year.  Beef  is  the  appropriate  food  of  these  dry  and  high 
altitudes. 

The  eastern  half  of  this  route,  from  Baltimore  to  Kansas,  traverses  very 
centrally  the  densest  population,  the  largest  production  and  cdnsumption, 
and  consequently  the  line  of  gi'eatest  travel  atid  commerce.  The  same 
will  be  the  case  with  the  tcestern  h;ilf  as  soon  as  the  burlesque  of  "  Indian 
occupation"  is  brushed  out  of  the  way.  The  immense  mass  of  pioneers 
in  all  the  elder  States  chafes  to  issue  out  and  cover  this  delightful  coun- 
try with  republics. 

The  country  embracing  the  sources  of  the  Sweetwater,  Colorado,  and 
Snake  Rivers  is  a  gold  country,  equalling  California  or  Brazil,  but  inac- 
cessible to  ocean  navigation.  The  climate  does  not,  equally  as  in  these 
latter  countries,  pulverize  and  disintegrate  the  rock.  The  gold  is  in  a 
matrix  of  quartz.  The  hard  porphyry  and  lava  will  descend  in  immense 
quantities,  and  thus  economize  the  paving  of  the  cities  of  the  Valley  of 
the  Mississippi. 

One  natural  production  of  the  eastern  edge  of  the  Table  Lands  will 
soon  repay  the  cost  of  the  construction  of  this  road.     This  is  salt. 

There  are  mountains  near  the  sources  of  Snake  River,  composed  of 
stratified  masses  of  rock-salt — just  as  other  river  bluffs  are  of  limestone. 
This,  quarried  with  light  tools,  and  ground  to  powder,  as  grain  is  re- 
duced to  flour,  is  the  pure  alum  salt  of  commerce.  liVery  living  soul  of 
America  uses  salt  thrice  per  day.  Every  animal  requires  it  as  frequently. 
Every  ounce  of  provisions  is  preserved  with  it.  It  is  mixed  with  hay, 
and  preserves  timber.  It  is  used  in  the  manufactures  and  fine  arts. 
Brought  hence  down  to  the  focal  point  of  navigation  in  Missouri,  this 
State  will  become  the  distributing  point  of  this  most  valuable,  greatest, 
and  most  indispensable  article  of  commerce. 

By  the  last  national  census,  the  annual  production  of  our  country 
reaches  the  value  of  three  thousand  millions  of  dollars.  Seventy-five  per 
cent,  of  this  is  food,  which  finds  no  market  among  the  comparatively  lim- 
ited population  of  Europe,  205,000,000,  who  feed  themselves. 

Around  the  Pacific,  in  front  of  Astoria,  are  745,000,000  of  hungry 
Asiatics  and  Polynesians,  who  have  groceries,  clothing,  spices,  and  por- 
celain, to  exchange  for  meat  and  grain. 

But  the  western  half  of  this  road  departs  from  the  bank  of  the  ^lis- 
souri,  to  which  all   America  has  acjet-s  at  this  hour  by  the  navigable 


200  APPENDIX. 

rivers ;  and  from  Astoria  these  millions  of  consumers  may  be  reached 
directly,  over  a  tranquil  ocean  and  under  a  trmperate  atmosphere:  the 
equatorial  heats  are  only  encountered  last  and  at  the  place  of  final  de- 
livery. 

No  doubt,  in  the  populous,  central,  food-producing  States  of  Iowa,  Mis- 
souri, Arkansas,  and  Illinois,  (hr^'n  hnndred  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of 
produce  of  industry  fail  annually  to  find  a  market,  and  the  profit  thereon 
perishes,  for  want  of  this  road  oat  i'rom  the  centre  to  the  northwestern 
coast ! 

But  it  is  important  that  the  j^x'ople  receive  with  candor,  and  allow  due 
weight  to,  the  overwhelming  and  conclusive  proofs  in  favor  of  this  route 
of  the  water-grades,  which  Nature,  all  recorded  hiiman  experience,  and  the 
solid  science  of  civil  engineering,  conspire  to  submit  to  their  judgment. 
Nature  is  the  supreme  engineer ;  art  is  prosperous  only  whilst  adhering 
to  her  teachings. 

We  have  seen  in  what  a  simple  and  sublime  harmony  the  invisible  force 
of  Nature  elevates  vapors  from  the  sea,  forms  them  into  cloud  balloons  in 
the  upj;er  atmosphere,  and  transports  them  on  currents  of  air  over  the 
continents ;  how  these  become  condensed  and  distil  themselves  over  the 
face  of  the  land  in  the  form  of  irrigating  rains. 

This  water  having  performed  its  renovating  duty,  by  filtering  through 
the  surface  soil,  begins  again  to  collect :  first  in  remote  hollows  and  un- 
dulations :  these  unite  into  rivulets  :  rivulets  into  larger  sti-eams  :  streams 
into  rivers :  rivers  into  the  great  fresh-water  troughs,  which  return  this 
drainage  from  the  land,  to  mix  with  the  salt  of  the  ocean,  to  be  renovated 
and  perform  again  their  part  in  the  circulation  of  nature. 

Now,  the  use  of  2>uhlic  works  to  human  society  is  the  same  as  are  her 
works  to  Nature :  to  bring  in  and  distribute  clothing  and  groceries ;  to 
collect  and  carry  out  surplus  food  and  productions  of  every  variety. 

In  the  transferring  to  and  fro  of  the  waters  of  the  universe,  Nature 
accomplishes  as  much  heavy  transportation  in  a  few  hours  as  will  suffice 
the  social  wants  of  America  for  a  century.  This,  then,  is  all  that  is  sound 
in  civil  engineering,  and  comprehends  all  the  good  that  it  has  and  can 
do  for  human  society : — to  select  those  roater-gradcs  where,  in  further 
imitation  of  Nature,  human  energy  may  smooth  the  asperities  and  econom- 
ically adapt  to  use  the  curves  and  grades  with  which  she  has  everywhere 
furnished  the  face  of  the  land. 

Thus,  then,  to  recapitulate  and  sum  up  the  array  of  facts  which  con- 
centrate themselves  to  decide  the  location  of  the  Continental  Rail- 
way. Nature  and  all  sound  human  experience  unite  to  select  the  venter- 
grade  of  the  Platte  and  Snake  Rivers,  and  against  any  departure  from  it. 


MEMORANDA    ON    THE  PACIFIC   ItAILKOAD.  201 

If  this  route  deflects  at  all  from  an  exact  centrality^  it  is  to  the  south,  and 
not  towards  the  north,  that  it  bears.  Its  two  halves,  diverging  from  the 
centre,  give  the  shortest  lines  to  the  sea,  through  the  countries  and  popu- 
lations where  the  work  to  be  done  is  the  greatest,  and  the  necessity  for 
it  most  immediate,  pressing,  and  lasting. 

One-half  is  located  and  under  construction.  As  a  through  road  it  is 
the  shortest  line  across  North  America,  most  conveniently  connecting  Asia 
and  Europe  hi/  the  perpetual  line  of  way  travel  of  all  people.  Though 
meandering  among  immense  mountain  chains,  it  passes  them  all  by  tun- 
nels completely  made  by  nature. 

Neither  snow  nor  rain,  nor  great  rivers,  embarrass  either  its  construc- 
tion or  its  after-use  :  the  climate  is  pre-eminently  propitious  :  material  to 
construct  is  conveniently  at  hand,  at  easy  intervals  on  the  right  and  loft : 
fuel  and  water  abundant  forever.  The  pastoral  excellence  of  the  whole 
region,  combined  with  a  dry  atmosphere  and  health,  supplying  meat-food 
and  transportation  indefinitely,  will  render  easy  the  immediate  influx  and 
residence  of  an  immense  population. 

The  vicinity  where  the  great  Sierra  Madre  is  penetrated,  and  where 
five  great  rivers  have  their  sources  together,  is  prodigiously  prolific  in  salt, 
hard  rock  for  architecture  and  paving,  medicinal  hot  springs,  all  the 
precious  metals  and  jewels,  furs,  lumber,  and  the  hides  of  animals. 

If  I  have  delineated  with  any  success,  and  explained  correctly  the  fea- 
tures of  Nature,  in  geography,  climate,  and  topography,  there  remains  to 
examine  the  bearing  upon  this  work  of  the  combined  hostile  influence  of 
ocean  commerce  allied  with  politics.  Why  this  great  central  route,  suc- 
cessfully opened  in  the  time  of  Jefferson  and  by  the  energy  of  Astor,  was 
attacked,  stopped,  and  finally  shut  vp,  under  President  Monroe.  And 
why  its  reopening  is  still  hampered  and  postponed  by  the  same  remorse- 
less and  unrelenting;  enemies. 


THE    HEMP-GROWING    REGION. 

There  is  a  region  of  3fissouri  and  Kansas  of  rapidly  rising  fame  and 
importance,  gaining  for  itself  a  State  and  a  national  reputation,  which  we 
will  define  as  the  "  Region  of  the  Hemp  Cultured  Specially  favored  by 
nature  in  its  geograj^hical  locality,  climate,  navigation,  and  superlative  fer- 
tility, this  region  has  become  the  seat  of  a  hemp  culture  which  has  a 
strong,  organized,  and  national  foundation. 

The  hemp  culture  receives  special  attention  in  twenty  counties  of  West- 
ern Missouri,  bisected  by  the  Missouri  River,  and  all  adjacent  to  its  two 
shores.  They  form  a  belt  of  land  east  and  west,  enclosed  between  the 
38th  and  40th  degrees  of  latitude. 

Here  is  the  production  of  these  counties  in  hemp,  in  order  as  they  lie 
along;  the  river — census  of  1850  : 


Jackson, 

Cole, 

Platte, 

Howard, 

Lafayette, 

Cass, 

Clay, 

Boone, 

Saline, 

Johnson, 

Ray, 

Clinton, 

Cooper, 

Pettis, 

Carroll, 

Randol])h, 

Jloniteau, 

Miller, 

Chariton, 

Buchanan 

The  aggregate  of  annual  production  being  14,173  tons,  or  28,346,000 
pounds. 

Since  1850,  the  hemp  culture  has  increased  in  vigor,  both  in  the  land 
assigned  to  its  culture  and  in  the  application  of  machinery  to  its  produc- 
tion and  manufacture.  The  production  of  that  year,  within  the  above 
region,  was  28,346,000  pounds,  estimating  the  ton  at  2000  pounds ;  and 
that  of  the  whole  State  16,119  tons,  or  32.238,000  pounds. 

Tlie  course  of  the  Missouri  River  thningh  this  region  of  superlative 
fertility  may  be  compared  to  tlic  Nile  flawing  tlimugh  Lower  Egypt  to  the 
Mediterranean.  It  is  in  the  altility  of  an  abundant  and  bounteous  pro- 
duction that  this  comparison  holds,  but  not  in  temjierature,  climate,  or 
physical  features. 

In  Egypt,  the  arable  and  inhabitable  district  is  limited  to  the  ravine  of 
the  Nile,  which  is  overflowed  and  irrigated  by  its  waters  ;  beyond  this  the 
202 


THE    IIEMI'-GROWING   REGION.  203 

primeval  desert  reigns  everywhere  supreme.  With  us,  the  same  fertility 
characterizes  the  borders  of  the  stream,  which  has  the  same  abundance  of 
fertilizing  waters,  the  same  splendid  navigation,  the  same  solemnity  in  its 
ever-flowing  channel,  and  the  same  redundancy  of  benignant  attributes 
which  have  deified  the  Nile. 

But,  on  every  side,  from  the  gently  elevated  crest  that  bounds  the 
ravine  of  the  Missouri,  expands,  with  a  radius  of  1000  miles,  that  varie- 
gated calcareous  plain,  which  we  define  as  the  "  Basin  of  the  Mississijypi.'^ 
This  undulating  plain  has  an  area  equal  in  capacity  to  all  the  other  river 
basins  of  the  world,  and  combines  all  their  varieties. 

So  much  does  the  mind  revert  to  the  ocean  to  explain  by  comparison  its 
exquisite  romantic  beauty,  at  once  immense  and  regular,  that  this  hymn  to 
the  sea  may  with  propriety  describe  it : 

"  Thou  glorious  mirror,  where  the  Almighty's  form 

Glasses  itself  in  tempests ;  in  all  time, 
Calm  or  convulsed — in  breeze,  or  gale,  or  storm, 

Dark  heaving ; — boundless,  endless,  and  sublime — 
The  image  of  eternity — the  throne 
Of  the  Invisible —     .     .     .     each  zone 
Obeys  thee ;  thou  goest  forth,  dread,  fathomless,  alone !" 

The  current  course  of  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi  Rivers  is  from  north 
to  south.     The  latter  is  so  throughout  its  whole  length. 

The  Missouri,  after  a  southern  course  of  3000  miles,  receives  the  Kansas 
River  in  latitude  39°,  turns  abruptly  to  the  east,  penetrates  the  State  of 
Missouri,  and  bisects  it  from  west  to  east,  with  a  channel  4C0  miles  in 
length.  Into  the  eastern  mouth  of  this  channel,  all  the  great  natural 
lines  of  travel  coming  from  the  Atlantic  by  the  St.  Lawrence,  Ohio,  and 
South  Mississippi  Rivers,  concentrate  as  rays  to  a  focal  point. 

They  are  altogether  carried  forward  to  the  central  west  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Kaitsas,  where  the  unbroken  prairie  formation  meets  the  river,  and  to 
which  the  radiant  land  routes  over  their  expanse,  coming  from  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico  and  the  Pacific  Ocean,  similarly  concentrate. 

This  channel  is  now,  and  is  destined  prospectively  to  remain,  the  most 
thronged  and  wonderful  in  the  world.  It  is  central,  cast  and  irest,  to  the 
American  Continent,  to  the  Basin  of  the  Mississippi,  and  to  the  American 
Union.  It  lies  along  the  axis  of  that  isothermal  temperate  zone,  within 
which  is  the  zodiac  of  nations,  and  is  also  the  axis  of  the  population, 
progress,  travel,  production,  consumption,  commerce,  transportation,  and 
habitation  of  the  human  race. 

It  is  the  highway  from  Western  Europe  to  Oriental  Asia.  It  is  under 
that  line  of  latitude  where  all  things  northern  and  southern  meet  and  blend 


20-4  A  PPEXDIX. 

together — wliere  the  day  and  ni<>ht,  the  seasons  of  the  year,  hibor,  the 
growth  of  nature,  and  all  the  elements  of  human  society  and  of  the  vege- 
table and  animal  world,  have  the  widest  range,  the  greatest  variety,  and 
the  highest  development. 

Having  a  double  shore,  this  channel  has  800  miles  of  coast.  It  has 
the  familiar  accommodation  and  safety  of  a  canal,  a  railroad,  or  a  street. 

Its  depth  of  water  and  capacity  for  commerce  will  receive  and  carry 
forward  the  freightage  of  all  the  oceans  and  all  the  continents.  Similar 
channels  have  been  known  and  used  in  both  ancient  and  modern  times — 
such  are  the  Lower  Nile,  the  Bosphonis,  and  Dardanelles,  the  Strait  of 
Hercules,  the  English  Channel,  the  Baltic's  mouth,  the  Hudson  from  New 
York  to  Albany — only  this  has  greater  length,  divides  more  fertile  shores, 
and  connects  more  numerous  hosts  of  nations. 

Such  is  the  Hemp  Region.  It  has  an  altitude  1000  feet  above  the  sea, 
a  salubrity  equal  to  the  Table  Lands,  a  fertility  superior  to  the  Delta  of 
Louisiana,  an  unlimited  area,  a  navigation  better  than  the  sea,  a  climate 
exactly  congenial  to  the  white  man,  a  rural  beauty  forever  graceful,  fresh, 
and  fascinating. 

It  is,  on  a  vastly  magnified  scale,  the  counterpart  of  that  delicious  and 
classic  Italy,  traversed  by  the  Po,  dotted  with  cities,  Venice,  Verona, 
Mantua,  Milan,  of  which  Shakspeare  has  written,  and  where  Virgil 
and  Tasso  sung. 

If  an  ellipse  be  described  extending  from  the  Osage  mouth  to  Fort 
Riley,  some  500  miles,  and  in  breadth  300,  it  will  contain  that  district  of 
fat,  lustrous  soil,  exuberant  vegetation,  graceful  beauty,  and  abundant 
streams,  where  Nature  has  bountifully  blended  all  her  choicest  gifts  to 
locate  the  rural  quintessence  of  America  and  of  the  world  ! 

Stimulated  by  the  inspiring  splendor  of  their  natural  position,  the 
vigorous  population  of  this  region  have  pursued  agriculture,  commerce, 
and  manufactures  with  an  ambition  and  success  which  indicate  a  growing 
empire  in  nothing  unworthy  of  their  prospective  destiny. 

Every  department  of  production  and  industry  has  been  tried,  and  all 
thrive.  Ilemp,  tobacco,  flax,  the  grape  and  wine,  silk,  sugar,  the  cereals 
and  grasses ;  cattle  of  the  finest  breeds ;  agricultural  machinery,  flowers, 
steam,  and  mining.  Society  exalts  its  tone  by  a  taste  for  religious  edifices 
and  eloquence;  education  receives  great  and  universal  care;  music  and  re- 
finement are  zealously  cultivated. 

Apart  from  these  fascinating  gifts  of  Nature  and  the  promise  which 
germinates  beneath  their  warmth,  a  jn-cstigc  entwines  itself  with  and  illu- 
minates the  history  of  this  region.  This  runs  back  to  the  golden  time  of 
the  patriarchal  founders  of  our  continental  empire  ;  it  stretches  over  the 


THE   JIKMP-dltOWlXG    UEGIOX.  205 

dark  chasm  of  seaboard  monarchy,  and  has  its  fountain  in  the  lumi- 
nous Aurora  and  among  the  immortal  patriots  who  limned  out  the  profile 
of  our  continental  empire,  and  inaugurated  the  inarch  of  our  destinies. 

We  have  here  among  us  the  graves  of  Daniel  Boone,  George 
Rogers  Clarke,  Laclede,  and  the  names  of  John  Jacob  Astor, 
Louis  XVI.  of  France,  Lasalle,  and  De  Soto,  great  and  intrepid  men 
who  led  or  befriended  the  pioneers,  those  stars  which  shone  in  the  first 
twilight  of  empire.  To  Jefferson  and  Jackson  we  were  known,  and 
they  have  been  known  to  us  as  our  friends. 

To  understand  this  2^>'€stige  and  its  strength,  it  is  necessary  briefly  to 
select  out  and  set  apart  to  themselves  a  few  facts  in  the  history  of  progress, 
which  stand  along  its  path,  and,  like  pyramids  in  the  solitude,  fix  its  re- 
markable epochs. 

This  system  of  civilized  society,  of  which  we  Americans  form  a  part,  is 
very  ancient,  and  is  mlierited. 

History  is  the  journal  of  its  geographical  progress,  its  vicissitudes,  its 
struggles,  and  its  energies.  Where  society  has  assumed  its  largest  form 
and  attained  the  highest  level  of  civilization  and  longest  endurance,  it  is 
defined  to  be  an  empire. 

History  chiefly  occupies  itself  with  the  biography  of  these  empires, 
their  rise,  culmination,  and  decadence.  They  have  appeared,  lived,  and 
departed,  like  generations  of  men.  They  lie  along  a  serpentine  zone  of 
the  north  hemisphere  of  the  globe,  within  an  isothermal  helt.,  and  form  a 
ZODIAC  thirty-five  degrees  in  width. 

The  axis  of  this  zodiac  alternates  above  and  below  the  40th  degree  of 
latitude,  as  the  neighborhood  or  remoteness  of  the  oceans  modifies  the 
climates  of  the  continents.  These  empires  are  the  Chinese,  the  Indian, 
the  Persian,  the  Grecian,  the  Roman,  the  Spanish,  the  British,  and,  last, 
the  RepuhUcan  Empire  of  North  America.  These  are  the  essential  ones 
in  the  regular  order  of  time  and  upon  the  hereditary  line  of  progress. 
It  is  here  that  the  mass  of  land  is  the  greatest,  and  where  the  continents 
most  nearly  approach  one  another. 

This  ZODIAC  of  nations  contains  vine-tenths  of  the  white  population  of 
the  globe,  and  all  its  civilization.  The  territory  of  the  American  people, 
extending  across  this  continent,  exactly  fills  this  isothermal  zone  from 
edge  to  edge,  occupying  the  whole  connecting  space  between  Western 
Europe  and  Oriental  Asia. 

It  is  on  these  two  fronts  of  the  old  continents  that  the  two  halves  of 
the  human  race  are  separately  congregated,  both  fronting  America  and 
fronting  one  another,  face  to  face,  across  America.  The  straight  line  of 
intercourse  between  them,  only  10,000  miles  in  length,  pursues  the  axis 


206  APPEXDIX. 

of  the  isuthenual  zone,  out  of  which  it  never  deflects  either  into  the  torrid 
heats  or  the  frozen  north. 

Ilerc,  then,  is  the  tenacious,  tlie  divine  instinct  of  progress  and  liberty, 
which  fired  the  soul  of  CoLUMBUS,  of  Wasiiingtox,  of  Jefferson,  and 
of  Jackson.  In  this  faith  tliey  lived ;  this  faith  they  vindicated  and 
never  betrayed  ;  and  in  this  faith  they  died,  to  inherit  among  posterity  a 
supreme,  untainted  immortality. 

This  faith  forms  the  inspiration  of  the  Declaration  of  1776,  animated 
the  patriarchal  generation,  and  was  renewed  and  codified  in  the  Constitu- 
tion of '87.  It  selected  Jefferson  in  1798,  and  Jackson  in  1828.  Its 
eagles  are  now  erected  among  the  pioneers  out  in  the  wilderness,  in  Kan- 
sas, in  Utah,  in  California,  and  in  Oregon.  Upon  them  are  embossed  the 
ancient  rights  of  man,  the  continental  union,  the  continental  railroad,  the 
continental  cause  ! 

During  the  administration  of  Jefferson,  central  extension^  pursuing 
the  isothermal  axis  through  the  continent,  was  prosecuted  with  great  vigor 
as  the  favorite  policy  of  the  government.  Lewis  and  Clarke  recon- 
noitred and  made  known  the  character  of  the  rivers,  the  mountains,  and 
the  connections  of  the  Basins  of  the  Mississippi  and  Columbia  by  direct 
passes.  John  Jacob  Astor  planted  trading  colonies  and  paths  through 
the  wilderness,  and  upon  the  bank  of  the  other  sea  opposite  to  China. 

The  rapid  creation  of  the  States  of  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Indiana,  Illinois, 
and  Missouri,  carried  forward  the  Union  in  a  salient  column,  embracing 
the  water-line  of  the  great  rivers  and  reaching  here  to  the  geographical 
centre  in  1820  !  Up  to  that  date  the  flanks  had  remained  stationary  in 
New  York  and  Georgia. 

The  design  then  was  to  go  through  with  the  parallelogram  of  central 
States  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  this  base  to  advance  outward,  planting 
States  simultaneously  towards  the  south  and  towards  the  north.  This 
policy  was  crippled  during  the  time  of  Mr.  Madison  by  the  vicissitudes 
of  foreign  war.  It  was  abandoned  and  reversed  by  Messrs.  IMonroe  and 
Adams. 

In  their  time  grew  up  the  political  divisions  of  North  and  South,  and 
a  maritime  policy  inaugurated  itself  Since  that  date,  central  progress  has 
ab/uptly  stopped,  and  great  activity  upon  the  flanks  has  brought  them  up 
to  an  even  front  in  lowa^  and  a  greatly  advanced  position  in  Texas. 

The  central  force  has,  Yiovf ox qy,  jumped  the  continent  straight  to  the 
front,  occupied  the  sea-coasts  of  Oregon  and  California,  and  founded  the 
new  maritime  power  upon  the  Pacific  and  opposite  to  Asia. 

Since  the  selection  of  the  site  of  the  city  of  Independence,  in  1824,  to 
1854,  a  chasm   in  time  of  thirty  years,  central  extension  had  rested  as 


THE  iiEMr-anowiNfi  region.  207 

stagnant  as  though  our  great  river  had  been  frozen  at  this  point  into  solid 
and  perpetual  ice.  It  had  been  stopped  by  an  artificial  cordon  of  Indian 
tribes  and  federal  law  as  effectually  as  by  a  continuous  wall  of  l)rass  ex- 
tending from  Louisiana  to  the  49th  degree,  and  rising  in  altitude  from  the 
prairie  foundation  to  the  clouds. 

Hence  is  seen  the  unique  and  novel  sight  of  a  great  continental  emjri re, 
formed  of  a  circular  shell  of  States  traced  round  the  eircumferent  seaboard, 
and  surrounding  a  hollow  and  vacant  disk  of  desert  continent. 

Such  are  at  present  the  theoretical  ■prmci'ples  upon  which  maritime  policy 
legislates  for  the  great  region  of  our  country  connecting  the  States  of 
Missouri  and  California  straight  across. 

The  antagonistic  struggle  is  between  the  instinct  of  progress  plowing 
out  its  highway  through  the  continent,  along  the  isothermal  axis  by  land, 
on  the  one  hand,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  external  shell  of  maritime 
power  to  hold  the  continent  in  a  maritime  hoop,  and  subject  its  industrial 
greatness  to  an  arrogant  sea-policy. 

In  the  great  city  of  New  York  the  active  instinct  of  progress  has  always 
had  a  working  vitality.  Like  Rome,  she  has  pursued  an  elastic  policy, 
and  has  planted  her  commercial  colonies  at  the  right  time,  and  in  the  right 
spots.  These  colonies,  of  the  first  class,  are  New  Orleans,  Chicago,  and 
San  Francisco.  With  all  of  these  she  maintains  or  needs  direct  connec- 
tions by  steamers,  railroads,  and  telegraphs,  as  also  with  Europe  in  the  rear. 

The  time  is  rife  for  another  selection,  which  offers  itself  in  the  centre 
of  the  Mississippi  Basin  !  A  key-point  of  centrality  and  radiance,  and  of 
unrivalled  excellence.  This  is  Kansas  City,  the  metropolis  of  the  Hemp 
Region. 

This  young  and  vigorous  city,  crowning  the  southern  bank  of  the 
Missouri  River  at  the  point  of  the  angle  where  it  deflects  to  the  east, 
beetles  over  the  avenues  to  the  prairies  of  the  south  and  west,  like  Gibral- 
tar at  the  Strait  of  Hercules. 

It  covers  the  rear  of  St.  Louis,  and  confines  her  to  the  narrow  field  of 
the  State  of  Arkansas.  By  the  through  railroad,  coming  by  way  of  Chi- 
cago and  Keokuk,  crossing  the  Missouri  River  at  Brunswick,  and  ascend- 
ing the  south  bank,  an  air-line  road  exists  of  only  fifty  hours'  time  hence 
to  New  York  City. 

The  river  line  of  the  Missouri,  Illinois,  and  St.  Lawrence  deflects  but 
little  from  an  equal  straightness  and  a  similar  distance  in  miles.  Railroads 
passing  onwards  to  Galveston  into  Texas  and  New  3Iexico,  to  San  Fran- 
cisco, Utah,  and  Astoria,  will  be  the  shortest  lines  from  New  York  City 
to  all  these  extremities  and  various  regions  of  our  continent. 

Here  will  be  found  the  shortest  diagonal  line  wherewith  to  bisect  the 


208  APPENDIX. 

productive  territory  and  population  of  the  Union  towards  the  soutliicest, 
through  the  grain,  hemp,  and  pastoral  regions,  to  the  sugar  of  Texas  and 
the  gold  and  silver  of  Mexico. 

It  is  shorter  to  Galveston  than  any  route  traversing  the  maritime  At- 
lantic States  and  bending  with  the  sea-coast.  It  traverses  a  line  of  the 
greatest  variety  of  production  and  largest  distribution  of  groceries,  dry 
goods,  and  manufactured  metals. 

This  licmp  region  is  not  more  celebrated  for  hemp  than  it  is  for  tobacco, 
grain,  blooded  cattle,  and  wool ;  only  this  former  production  is  not  shared 
with  surrounding  regions,  where  the  latter  engross  exclusive  attention. 
The  population  of  the  liemp  region,  in  1850,  was  202,413  ;  the  assessed 
property  $105,4-49,055. 

Here,  then,  is  an  immense  and  solid  foundation  wherefrom  to  grasp 
and  control  the  expanding  developments  in  fro)d,  consequent  ujjon  the 
obliteration  of  the  Indian  barrier,  and  the  bursting  forth  of  the  j^ent-up 
flood  of  central  progress,  out  over  the  prairies  which  undulate  to  Texas, 
Mexico,  and  the  Mountains.  The  front  wave  of  this  flood-tide  is  already 
in  motion ;  its  spray  sprinkles  the  Plains  almost  to  the  mountain  foot. 

The  achievements  of  the  coming  decade  of  years  will  differ  from  its 
predecessor.  It  will  exhibit  a  greater  mass  of  energy,  concentrated  in 
one  direction,  occupied  by  a  single  object,  and  moving  with  immense 
means  over  a  very  short  line,  which  is  perfectly  straight  and  open. 

Heretofore  the  active  force  of  progress  has  been  operating  round  the 
rim  of  our  territory,  on  Lake  Superior,  in  California,  in  Texas,  in  Florida : 
in  detached  squadrons  separated  from  the  base  of  old  society,  by  the  diam- 
eter of  the  continent,  or  keeping  up  its  communication  round  the  cir- 
cumference by  sea.  The  opening  decade  beholds  a  concentric  advance, 
flooding  into  the  centre  and  reducing  all  movements  to  the  shortest  radii ! 
Its  career  opens  with  a  general  force  of  50,000,000  of  population,  having 
gold  in  hand,  railroads,  steamers,  and  rivers  with  prairies  on  their  banks. 
The  difl&culties  of  the  wilderness  are  overcome,  the  temptations  every  way 
increased,  the  means  of  motion  enormously  accumulated. 

Such  is  the  prosperous  future  which  shines  over  the  central  icest,  and 
fills  the  atmosphere  to  the  remotest  horizon.  This  prospective  view  is 
not  too  sanguine,  it  is  not  exaggerated,  it  is  only  in  moderate  and  appro- 
priate proportion  to  the  mnterifd  long  accumulating  and  now  beginning 
to  stir  with  activity  through  its  whole  reanimated  l)ulk. 

Sound  health,  complete  preparation,  fresh  and  mature  vigor,  judgment, 
and  a  defined  and  finite  object,  all  blend  themselves  with  the  immense  and 
successful  movement  which  closes  in  to  occupy  the  centre  of  our  country, 
to  reunite  its  flanks,  and  to  adjust  its  true  diXidi geograph ical  balances  foi'ever. 


-VII. 
AN    ORATION. 

spoken  by  hon.  william  gilpin,  to  thk  guests  of  the  fenian  brother- 
hood, at  denver,  colorado,  july  4,  1868. 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  Fellow-citizens,  each  one  and  all  : — 
The  return  of  Independence  Day  brings  annually  together,  both  at  home 
and  in  foreign  lands,  the  unanimous  American  people. 

They  unite  to  express  and  to  renew  the  fire  of  devotion ;  to  burnish 
afresh  the  holy  flame  which  illuminated  our  natal  hour ;  that  hour  when 
our  sacred  country  was  born  to  a  mission  of  unparalleled  liberty,  virtue, 
happiness,  and  glory. 

We  everywhere  invoke  Heaven,  as  we  surround  the  innumerable  altars 
of  patriotism,  to  fortify  every  heart  and  every  will  of  our  now  multitudi- 
nous people ;  to  tone  and  forever  inspire  them  to  perpetuate  the  founda- 
tions, the  standard,  and  the  work  erected  by  the  patriarchal  fathers ;  to 
emulate  their  energetic  works  and  virtues,  plain  in  form,  intense  in  forti- 
tude, radiant  with  political  charity  and  exalted  wisdom. 

The  solemnity  of  this  day  instructs  us  to  look  abroad,  with  hearts  soft- 
ened by  a  great  love,  yet  stern  with  resolution,  over  our  vast  country 
now  encircled  by  the  seas. 

The  august  Congress  of  1776  is  seen,  filled  with  heroic  men,  the  choice 
of  an  heroic  people.  Wisdom,  resolution,  calmness,  unanimity,  sway  and 
moderate  their  deliberations  and  their  acts. 

With  unfaltering  faith  and  self-reliance  in  the  rectitude  of  their  inten- 
tions and  their  cause,  they  pronounce  the  will  of  the  American  people  re- 
solved for  Liberty  and  for  Independence. 

In  condensed  sentences,  perfect  for  logic,  simplicity,  truth,  and  eloquence, 
they  face  and  expel  from  the  American  continent  tyrants  and  o})pression ; 
they  summon  and  appeal  to  the  virtue  and  sympathy  of  mankind. 

Their  resolutions  and  their  acts,  free  from  doubt,  are  equally  daring, 
final,  and  complete. 

In  the  rancorous  and  prolonged  conflicts  of  war,  essential  to  meet  and 

14  209 


210  APPENDIX. 

quell  the  iinjilaeable  rage  and  avarice  of  power,  was  seen  the  same  reso- 
lute will,  a  like  impregnable  endurance,  an  equal  faith,  the  same  unfal- 
tering fidelity. 

From  thi.s  ordeal,  sublime  in  all  its  acts  and  features,  came  forth  a  regen- 
erated people.  Regenerated  !  Because  unanimously  born  to  liberty,  the 
menaces  and  blows  of  covetous  power  struck  to  dwarf  its  dimensions,  to 
blunt  its  freshness,  to  wring  subjugation  from  inflicted  tortures,  had  been 
understood,  resisted,  and  annihilated. 

To  Liberty  was  added  Independence.  To  liberty  had  accrued  the 
supreme  power  of  self-discipline,  self-protection,  self-rule,  self-perpetuation  ! 

But  the  Congress  of  1776,  having  its  origin  and  its  authority  from  the 
unanimous  will  and  power  of  the  people,  declared  itself  to  be  the  "  Con- 
tinental Congress  of  the  American  people."  In  their  name  were  erected 
and  maintained  a  continental  army ;  a  continental  marine ;  a  continental 
currency  ;  a  continental  cause. 

Animated  by  the  loftiest  sentiments,  unsullied  by  the  meretricious  taste 
for  power,  the  profoundly  wise  and  courageous  charity  which  declared  and 
established  the  independent  liberty  of  the  individual  man,  decreed  also 
that  the  geographical  area  of  the  continent  should  be  dedicated  and  sanc- 
tified to  the  exercise  of  his  freedom. 

Hence,  from  these  preliminary  triumphs,  in  harmony  with  them  and 
spontaneously,  sprang  with  ease  the  Union  of  the  United  States  of 
America. 

Liberty,  Independence,  Union — these  were  the  benignant  fruits  gath- 
ered and  perpetuated  by  the  American  Revolution  for  the  American 
people,  and  for  the  example  of  the  human  race  forever. 

From  July  4,  1776,  to  the  second  election  of  Washington,  fifteen  years 
in  time,  tliat  stupendous  and  benignant  work  had  matured  itself  during 
the  maturity  of  a  single  generation. 

A  continent  cut  loose  and  secured  to  a  new  society !  A  new  society 
erected  on  fresh  ground,  novel  in  all  its  elements,  even  in  the  seed  from 
which  the  plant  first  germinates  !  The  oracular  centre  of  political  faith 
and  power  rescued  from  the  huge  city  of  London  and  transported  beyond 
the  ocean  to  the  rural  shores  of  the  Potomac! 

A  complete  and  radical  adjustment  in  the  geographical  foundations  of 
human  institutions  was  consummated. 

Thought  and  speech  were  unchained,  and  the  elasticity  of  mind  disen- 
t^ingled  ;  the  daring  spirit  of  inquiry  set  free  from  restraint ;  the  rights 
of  man,  in  practice,  proclaimed  and  perpetuated ;  monarchy  abolished  ; 
universal  citizenship  and  self-government  made  perpetual ;  the  artificial 
barriers  erected  by  bigotry  to  restrict  reason  and  progress,  disappeared,  and 


ORATIOX.  211 

the  horizon  all  around  was  cleared  to  their  unobstructed  expansion  and  free 
vision. 

From  a  whole  people,  thus  disenthralled  and  impelled  by  the  light  and 
fire  of  universal  intelligence,  sprang  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
of  America. 

This  constitution,  in  itself  a  sublime  mental  structure  and  edifice,  marks 
a  point  of  culmination  in  the  struggles  and  the  conflicts  of  all  preceding 
time. 

It  registers  a  conclusive  victory  of  the  instinct  of  order,  achieved  and 
recognized.  It  marks  a  point  of  departure  into  the  future,  new  and  fresh 
as  the  continent  which  gives  it  birth.  Condensed  in  size  and  form,  it  is 
comprehensively  complete  in  its  details  and  exact  in  its  definitions. 

Consolidated  wisdom  shines  from  it,  as  light  and  fire  from  the  sun  in 
nature.  It  provides  for  minute  munipipal  governments,  and  commands 
self-denial,  energy,  concession,  uniformity,  and  concord. 

As  in  our  holy  religion  we  possess  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  divine  text 
from  which  flow  all  other  forms  of  supplication,  and  back  into  it,  they  are 
again  condensed  ;  so  from  the  profound  principles  fixed  in  the  Constitu- 
tion, governments  sound  in  form  may  erect  themselves,  expand  to  dimen- 
sions ample  as  the  human  family.  They  may  be  dwarfed  or  may  decay, 
but  never  can  finally  perish  or  be  lost. 

Such  is  the  splendid  vision  which  arrests  our  attention  and  fills  full  our 
hearts  with  overpowering  gratitude,  when  we  devote  this  day  to  review 
the  immortal  acts  and  exalted  wnsdom  of  the  people,  of  the  statesmen,  and 
of  the  soldiers  of  our  patriarchal  generation. 

Let  us  remember  that  the  fourth  day  of  July,  1776,  was  a  day  of  in- 
tense daring,  of  unparalleled  sternness  and  resolution  in  its  declarations 
and  its  acts. 

By  its  antagonists  it  was  maligned  as  intended  to  unbridle  the  furies 
and  precipitate  the  world  into  infinite  and  devouring  discord.  Yet  we 
cannot  doubt,  we  who  inherit  and  enjoy  its  benignant  results  and  look 
out  over  a  world  regenerated  by  its  oracles,  that  Divine  Providence  suffered 
their  hearts  to  palpitate  with  IKs  essence  and  tempered  their  judgments 
with  His  grace. 

The  life  of  a  continental  people,  charged  with  an  imperial  mission,  is 
long.  Unlike  human  life,  a  pigmy  in  force  and  swiftly  rushing  to  the 
grave,  a  vast  people  grows  even  on,  aggregating  and  re-invigorated  by  each 
generation  of  men  as  it  appears,  matures,  and  then  departs.  The  life  of  a 
nation  has  also  its  extreme  vicissitudes,  its  alternating  periods  of  obscurity 
and  of  brightness. 

The  second  generation  of  American  statesmen,  whether  dazzled  by  the 


212  APi'E.snix. 

brilliancy  of  their  flitliers,  or  sta<ip:eretl  to  comprebentl  completely  the 
proiuuiul  chaiip,es,  the  rapidity,  and  the  immense  volume  and  novelty  of 
their  wiirks ;  whether  a  certain  awe  of  the  past  and  recoil,  dictated  a  time 
of  lassitude  and  rest:  yet  this  period  is  dimmed  by  the  departure  of  the 
government  out  of  harmony  with  the  Constitution  and  the  exalted  declara- 
tions of  "7(1. 

The  divinity  of  progress  seemed  to  sleep  :  African  slavery  was  expanded : 
territory  was  dwarfed  by  the  loss  of  Oregon  and  Texas :  all  things  were 
I'epressed  under  the  monopoly  of  the  Atlantic  Sea. 

The  grand  pioneer  energies  were  arbitrarily  curbed  and  emasculated;  a 
meridian  wall  of  Indians  extended  as  a  Bastile  from  the  British  northern 
to  the  Spanish  southern  frontier ;  the  land-system  crushed  agricultural 
labor ;  immigration  from  Europe  was  discouraged  ;  a  bank  dwarfed  and 
destroyed  money ;  immense  deserts,  stony  mountains,  an  iron-bound  sea, 
and  death,  were  declared  to  form  a  fourfold  and  impregnable  barrier  to 
progress  to  the  West. 

A  necessity  to  resume  again  the  chains  of  semi-servitude  and  monarchy 
was  proclaimed.  Our  immemorial  continental  mission,  coequal  with  the 
grand  geographical  area  and  structure  between  the  oceans,  was  lost  to 
speech. 

Adhesion  to  rancorous  political  parties  of  the  North  and  of  the  South 
was  alone  permitted.     Tyranny  had  re-entered  among  us. 

What  dismal  years  of  civil  war ;  what  innumerable  and  heroic  battles ; 
what  slaughter  and  unfathomable  griefs ;  what  sanguinary  passions,  were 
seen !  IIow  nearly  was  the  precipice  approached,  whence  the  whole  pyra- 
mid of  our  glories — Union,  Independence,  Liberty — should  be  precipitated 
and  shattered  in  irreparable  ruin  ! 

It  is  here,  and  upon  this  day,  that  we  are  admonished  by  pious  patriotism 
to  reflect  upon  the  consuming  acrimony,  rapine,  and  desolation  of  civil 
war ;  what  positive  policy  or  what  lamentable  neglect  has  subjected  our 
cduiitry  to  its  destructive  torch,  and  engendered  anywhere  among  our 
])eople  a  chronic  and  inplacable  bitterness. 

From  hence,  to  ponder  boldly,  and  fco  see  if  to  avoid  it  might  have 
been  possible,  and  if  its  recurrence  may  be  forever  averted. 

As  I  am  now  here  permitted  upon  this  anniversary  to  speak  to  the 
pioneers,  surrounded  by  their  conquests  freshly  won  from  the  wilderness, 
and  advancing  with  magic  celerity  ;  so  twice  bei'ore  it  has  been  my  for- 
tuiK;  to  be  with  tlicm  on  significant  occasions. 

(  hi  till  I'diirili  of  .July.  1S4::},  I  was  here  :  on  this  present  site  of  Den- 
ver: one  of  a  small,  l)ut  icsolutc  and  intrepid  camp.  Here  were  Carson, 
Fremont,  Fitzpatrick,  Talbot.     The  American  flag  floated  over  us. 


0  RAT  I  ox.  213 

We  had  reached  the  western  limit  of  the  American  territory,  which 
then  closed  here  in  a  pocket,  formed  by  the  summit  of  the  Sierra  and  the 
current  of  the  Arkansas  Kivcr. 

In  front,  beyond  the  setting  sun,  were  unknown  mountains,  strange 
rivers,  mysterious  lakt^s,  condemned  by  the  uninstructed  opinion  of  the 
world  and  proscribed  by  its  laws, — an  obscure  and  a  foreign  land. 

Beyond  there  was  an  immense,  silent,  and  unfrequented  ocean  :  on  its 
outward  shore  were  hundreds  of  millions  of  Asiatic  people,  secluded  and 
mysterious  empires,  barred  from  the  world,  and  only  known  to  exist. 

This  summer  season,  a  wagon-road  was  opened,  and  blazed  through  and 
through  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Sea.  Our  flag  was  baptized  in 
the  spray  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  line  of  way  travel  round  the  world 
was  revealed  and  proclaimed. 

The  truth  of  geography  triumphed  over  the  craft  of  politics  ;  the  mind 
of  the  laboring  and  industrial  world  awoke,  palpitated  with  conquering 
fire,  and  struck  for  the  emancipation  of  labor,  for  its  exaltation  and  its 
power. 

The  cry  for  Oregon  and  Texas  arose  from  the  people.  During  the 
years  of  war  with  Mexico,  what  enthusiasm  animated  the  pioneer  armies, 
what  unparalleled  marches,  victories,  and  explorations  illustrated  the  ardent 
energies  of  our  young  soldiers  !  How  complete  the  preparations  made  by 
them  for  the  advancing  power  and  forces  of  the  people  ! 

Our  continental  area  was  doubled ;  the  American  desert  rolled  aside ; 
the  vast  system  of  the  longitudinal  mountains  revealed  in  splendor  and 
benignity  ;  the  prodigious  arena  of  the  Pacific  thrown  open,  appropriated 
to  America,  and  occupied  in  force  and  permanence  !  Gold  for  the  j)eople 
was  discovered  and  seciired  ! 

To  secure  results  so  pregnant  with  empire,  voluntary  forces  of  occupa- 
tion gathered  to  the  IMissouri  River.  Assembled,  to  the  number  of  five 
thousand  on  the  beautiful  prairie  where  now  stands  the  city  of  Lawrence, 
on  the  Fourth  of  July,  1849,  I  was  invited  to  address  them. 

Suffer  me  to  repeat  here  now  some  sentiments  then  spoken :  "  The 
region  of  gold  and  precious  metals  and  stones  is  not  limited,  but  is  ab- 
solutely infinite.  It  is  over  the  whole  extent  of  that  primary  and  volcanic 
formation  extending  from  the  Antarctic  to  the  Arctic  extremities  of 
America,  including  in  its  expanse  the  Andes  of  South  and  of  North 
America,  the  Sierra  Madre  and  the  Plateau. 

"  This  abundance  of  the  material  of  coin,  wrought  and  developed  ])y 
sober  American  industry,  is  about  to  be  to  the  human  race  the  supremest 
gift  of  divine  beneficence. 

"  Has  not  the  American  cotton-culture  obliterated  harsh  aristocratic  dis- 


214  APPESDIX. 

tiuctions  in  dress,  and  thus  democratized  the  costume  of  society  over  the 
world  ?  What  cotton  has  done  for  equality  in  dress,  the  same  will  gold 
effect  for  individual  e(iuality  in  property  and  physical  comfoiis  ! 

"  Study  how  the  icy  servitude  of  European  feudal  times  has  melted  since 
tlie  conquests  of  Cortez  and  Pizarro  opened  the  sources  from  which  port- 
able personal  property  has  exalted  itself  above  fixed  and  immutable  glebe 
lands  !"     And  again  : 

"  Unquiet  for  this  sacred  Union  is  this  present  time,  when  political 
power,  about  to  cross  the  AUeghanies,  see-saws  on  their  crests,  counting 
the  days  that  precede  her  eternal  transit  over  them  !  It  is  by  the  rapid 
propagation  of  new  States,  the  immediate  occupation  of  the  broad  plat- 
form of  the  continent,  the  aggregation  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  Asiatic 
commerce,  that  inquietude  will  be  swallowed  up,  and  the  murmurs  of 
discontent  lost  in  the  onward  sound  of  advancement. 

''  Discontent,  distanced,  will  die  out.  The  immense  wants  of  the  Pacific 
will  draw  off,  over  Western  outlets,  the  overteeming  crops  of  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley.  The  established  domestic  manufactures  of  clothing  and 
metals  will  find,  in  our  great  domestic  extension,  that  protection  which 
they  in  vain  seek  to  create  by  unequal  legislation,  nocuous  and  impracti- 
cable in  our  present  incomplete  and  unbalanced  geographical  form. 

'•  Thus  calmly  weighed  and  liberally  appreciated,  does  this  Continental 
Railway  minister  to  the  interests,  and  invite  the  advocacy  and  co-opera- 
tion, of  every  section  of  our  territory,  and  every  citizen  of  our  common 
country !" 

Looking  out  at  that  day  from  this  spot,  the  eye  ranged  round  for  a 
thousand  miles  over  a  silent  wilderness,  unpeopled  and  unsought  for; 
beyond  were  sluggish  people  and  inert  societies.  To-day,  behold  around 
us  the  magic  creations  of  the  pioneer  energies !  Seventeen  new  States 
and  eight  millions  of  new  people  surround  us;  planted  over  the  area  of 
that  wilderness. 

What  an  immense  geography  has  been  revealed  !  what  infinite  hives 
of  population  and  laboratories  of  industry  been  electrified  and  set  in  mo- 
tion !  The  great  sea  has  rolled  away  its  sombre  veil.  Asia  is  found  and 
ha.s  become  our  neighbor.  Her  swarming  multitudes,  two-thirds  of  the 
population  of  the  world,  and  absorbing  four-fifths  of  the  wealth  and  indus- 
try of  mankind,  a.ssume  motion  and  advance  to  meet  us. 

The  world  has  faced  about,  and  has  found  its  true  front. 

North  America  is  known  to  our  own  people.  Its  concave  form  and 
homogeneous  structure  are  revealed.  Our  continental  mission  is  set  to  its 
perennial  frame,  and  the  perpetuity  of  the  American  Union  planted  sym- 
metrically upon  its  impregnable  foundation. 


ORA  TION.  21 5 

Leaving  behind  the  dual  political  parties  on  the  selvage  of  the  Atlantic 
Sea,  we  expand  to  the  universal  powers  and  fraternal  sentiments  of  a  con- 
tinental people. 

Vast  geographical  and  social  differences,  strengthened  by  rivahy  and 
variety,  are  blended,  balanced,  and  united  by  permanent  accord  with  the 
order  of  nature. 

Slavery  is  radically  abolished  and  exiled  forever  from  the  continents  of 
America,  Asia,  and  Europe.  Universal  citizenship,  education,  and  intelli- 
gence create,  expand,  and  perpetuate  themselves. 

The  emancipated  mind  of  the  world,  reinforced  by  numbers  and  new 
powers  of  self-government,  marches  Avith  majesty  and  moderation  from 
victory  to  victory. 

Foreign  conquests  on  American  soil  are  at  an  end.  America  beholds 
,  a  double  human  sacrifice :  Maximilian  for  the  decadence  of  the  Old  World ; 
Lincoln  for  the  renascence  of  the  New. 

In  the  littleness  of  mortality  we  may  yet  recognize  the  divine  miracle, 
which  closes  the  cycle  of  conquest  and  slavery  in  the  world,  that  human- 
ity may  enter  upon  a  new  departure,  illuminated  by  universal  freedom. 

A  new  and  grand  order  in  human  affairs  erects  itself  upon  these  immense 
concurrent  disclosures  and  events.  New  powers  appear,  whilst  old  ones 
are  condensed  and  made  active. 

Our  stupendous  system  of  longitudinal  mountains  and  gold-bearing 
sierras  is  a  majestic  power.  Our  broad  plains,  immense  valleys,  and  grand 
rivers,  all  parallel,  longitudinal,  arranged  in  compact  concord,  and  filling 
full  the  temperate  zone  of  warmth,  are  a  power. 

Our  island  form  and  intermediate  position  between  the  great  oceans, 
and  between  Western  Europe  and  Oriental  Asia,  are  supreme  powers.  Our 
sister  States  and  cities  on  the  Pacific  Ocean  are  a  godlike  power. 

The  American  people,  having  their  common  home  in  the  grand  amphi- 
theatre surrounded  by  the  mountains  and  the  external  seas,  will  reach  the 
highest  moral  standai'd  to  which  unity  of  language  and  manner,  combined 
with  the  genius  of  liberty,  intelligence,  and  propitious  climate,  can  elevate 
empires. 

The  moment  is  at  hand  when  the  traffic  and  travel  of  mankind — twelVe 
hundred  millions  in  the  aggregate — will  condense  itself  to  ferries  on  the 
Northern  seas  and  to  transit  roads. 

These  will  be  hugely  multiplied  in  volume,  and  concentrated  and  devel- 
oped here ;  because  they  have  heretofore  been  dwarfed  to  nothing  by  the 
equatorial  heats  and  the  immense  solitudes  of  the  ocean  circuit  of  the  globe. 

To  accomplish  this  within  a  time  reasonably  rajiid,  the  hoarded  wealth 
of  friendly  Asia  Avill  be  lavishly  and  generously  bestowed. 


216  APPEXDIX. 

We  see  united  with  us  here  to-day,  what  Europe  has  most  worthy  to  be 
honored  and  remembered  :  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the  Emerakl  Isle  ; 
Teutonic  men  and  women ;  tlie  representatives  of  her  other  liundred 
States  and  peoples :  they  who  have  had  the  great  faith  and  tna'rgy  to 
leave  her  and  come  here,  to  unite  themselves  to  us,  to  our  country  and  our 
mission. 

Free  Europe  flows  to  us  and  abides  with  us  as  fresh  waters  gather 
to  the  sea,  whilst  monarchy  has  returned  to  her  wrapt  in  the  mournful 
shroud  of  Maximilian. 

It  is  thus  that  the  great  powers  and  forces  of  the  external  world  gravitate 
to  the  Mississippi  Basin  and  the  mountains,  with  irresistible  pressure  and 
celerity. 

It  is  proper  that  I  speak  here  to-day  and  to  this  audience  with  unre- 
served sincerity  and  candor. 

An  exact  and  careful  scrutiny  will  authorize  the  assertion,  without  fear 
to  fail,  that  when  the  approaching  centennial  day  of  1876  shall  come,  the 
American  and  Mexican  peojjle  will  be  mutually  hai'monized  and  fused  into 
one  people. 

Governments,  withdrawn  from  the  political  foci  of  AVashington  and 
Mexico,  will  be  condensed  to  the  convenient  and  equitable  geographical 
centre  in  the  midst  of  the  rural,  the  continental  people,  among  the 
grand  prairies  and  on  the  rivers  of  Kansas,  remote  from  and  intermediate 
between  the  oceans. 

These  events  arrive.  We  are  in  the  midst  of  them.  They  surround  us 
as  we  march.  They  are  the  present  secretions  of  the  aggregate  activities 
and  energies  of  the  people. 

You,  the  pioneers  of  Colorado,  have  arched  with  this  glorious  State  the 
summit  ridge  and  barrier  between  two  hemispheres.  You  bring  to  a  close 
the  unnumbered  ages  of  their  isolation  and  their  hostility.  You  have 
opened  and  possess  the  highway  which  alone  connects,  fuses,  and  harmo- 
nizes them  together.    Of  this  State  you  are  the  first  owners  and  occupants. 

You  have  displayed  to  the  vision  and  illustrated  to  mankind  the  splen- 
did concave  structure  of  our  continent,  and  the  infinite  powers  of  its 
august  dimensions,  its  fertility,  its  salubrious  atmosphere  and  ever-resplen- 
dent beauty. 

You  have  discovered  the  profound  want  and  necessity  of  human  society, 
and  your  labor  provides  for  its  relief:  Gold — I  mean;  "the  indefinite 
supply  of  sound  money  for  the  pct^ple,  by  their  own  individual  and  volun- 
tary labor." 

You  occupy  the  front  of  the  ]iioncrr  army  of  the  people;  absolutely 
the  leaders  <if  mankind,  heading  the  column  to  the  Oriental  shores! 


ORATION.  217 

The  mysterious  crisis  between  tlie  elasliing  continents  and  civilizations 
of  the  world,  held  and  decided,  three  thousand  years  ago,  by  the  three 
hundred  Spartans  at  Therniopyhv;,  now  rests  with  the  geographical  States 
and  people  of  Colorado  and  Utah. 

Geographical  integrity  is  the  oracle  of  salvation  and  safety.  You  arc 
in  danger  of  being  partitioned  by  the  Punic  ambition  of  avaricious  mo- 
nopolies, and  the  covetous  cities  of  the  Atlantic  Sea. 

No  fragment  of  the  people  of  the  North  American  Continent  can  thus 
suffer  their  geographical  harmonies  to  be  lost  and  perverted. 

The  mining  pioneers  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  in  vice  untaught,  yet 
skilled  where  glory  leads  to  arduous  enterprise,  are  fit  to  confront  this 
crisis. 

Often  distinguished  by  your  fevor,  a  witness  of  your  constant  fidelity 
and  courage,  it  is  my  duty  to  sound  to  you  this  alarm,  to  invoke  and 
summon  you  to  confront  this  danger  with  Spartan,  with  American  will, 
unanimity,  and  victory. 

Our  great  country  has  emerged  from  trials  intensely  exhausting  and 
perilous.  The  energy  and  devotion  of  the  people  have  not  faltered  either 
in  defeat  or  victory.  A  cry  of  joy  and  admiration  sounds  over  all  the  seas 
and  all  the  continents  and  islands.  The  past  is  impregnably  preserved — 
future  progress  safe,  brilliant,  and  assured : 

"  Night  wanes,  the  vapors  round  the  mountains  curled 
Burst  into  morn,  and  light  awakes  the  world." 

Yielding  our  hearts  to  the  vivid  palpitations  inspired  by  this  day,  and 
by  the  gathering  glories  of  our  country,  so  young  and  yet  so  great,  let  us 
pronounce  to  her  this  parting  salutation  : 

Hail  to  America,  land  of  our  birth  !  Hail  to  her  magnificent,  her  con- 
tinental domain  !  Hail  to  her  generous  jjeople  !  Hail  to  her  victorious 
soldiers  !  Hail  to  her  matrons  and  her  maidens  !  Hail  to  the  .sacred  union 
of  her  States  !  All  hail  to  her,  as  she  is  !  Hail  to  the  sublime  mission 
which  bears  her  on,  through  peace  and  war,  to  make  the  continent  her 
own,  and  to  endure  forever ! 


THE   END. 


